Requiem of Souls
by Artificer Urza
Summary: It is two years after the fall of DeathEvan; Ryu, member of the Dragon Clan begins to search for his lost sister Yua along with his friends. That journey leads them to the Outer continent, the home of the Urkan religion FINISHED
1. Wandering Souls

Breath of Fire II Requiem of Souls By Artificer Urza Chapter1: Wandering Souls  
  
It was two years after the fall of DeathEvan. With the death of its leader Habaruku, the destruction of its mother church Everai and its largest cathedral Bando, the St. Evans religion had dwindled to a few small churches and some die hard, fanatical, doom-saying prophets.  
  
Three figures had become prominent in history at this point: Karn, a thief who was trying to make a city out of the refugee town of Fort Cott; Bo, a forest fox-man who was trying to forge a farming community with his partner McNeil and last there was the mysterious wanderer, a man who appeared suddenly one year after the defeat of DeathEvan and had been traveling toward Windia. He had always helped those who have met him if they were in need, and they all said that he had a great sorrow in his eyes as though he had lost that which was most precious to him.  
  
It is this wanderer who now found himself at the royal Windian Graveyard, in front of a particular grave, which he had not visited in a long time. He was old; it was obvious by his long white hair and beard that he was passed the best years of his life. His faded red cloak was covered in decades of dust from the road, his tunic and trousers worn after more than a lifetime of use. Strangely his armored boots and chain-plate armor still gleamed as though new, the draconic designs highly detailed and impossibly well crafted. But most odd was the ring he wore: besides a nondescript wedding band there was a ring with the royal Windian symbol of a bird in flight, a ring which had been enchanted so that none save a member designated as part of the royal family could wear it.  
  
"My time is almost up, I can feel It." the Wanderer whispered, "It will be nice to see you again, my beloved." he said as he smiled at the grave marker.  
  
"One last adventure, one last battle against the darkness and then I can finally rest." he stated as he touched the carving on the stone made in the image of one of Windia's most beloved queens.  
  
"Of course I'll look after the boy, he is kin after all and his friends too." he responds as though one of the living has asked him a question.  
  
In silence he took up the sword he had laid at the foot of the stone, it was fashioned with its crossbar in the form of dragon wings and the pommel in the shape of a dragon's head. He stood at attention and saluted the gravestone.  
  
"Honors to the dead!" he said, his voice still strong after so many years, then he smiled and whispered; "I'll be with you soon, keep Sara company until I get there OK?"  
  
As he exited the graveyard he was saluted by the guards and was met by the current living queen of windia.  
  
"I trust that you found your stay enjoyable, sire?" the queen asked as the Wanderer had merely presented the ring on his arrival and had not given his name.  
  
"Thank you for your concern." The Wanderer said "Here, I have some elixir for the king. It was used to cure someone with similar symptoms a long time ago."  
  
The queen was shocked, for she had just been presented with an elixir that saved the life of a Windian king four hundred years ago and the brew had never been seen since, save that it was so rare that it was easily recognizable.  
  
I should talk to people more often, it's becoming more awkward to talk to anyone these days, the Wanderer thought as he exited the castle.  
  
He paused, noticing that he had been overshadowed and looked up towards one of the towers, the source of the shade.  
  
"Well I'll be damned!" he chuckled seeing the Great Bird spreading her magnificent wings.  
  
He spotted a figure with the bird and waved up at them, laughing slightly for the figure had turned away having seen him, and he does likewise for he saw no other reason to remain.  
  
***********  
  
"I forbid it!! You can't just leave your son here and go on an adventure! It's irresponsible!!" Ganer raised his voice to repeat the same argument that had been going on for days now.  
  
Ryu sigh and closed the door; it wouldn't do for his year old son to awaken since he had just fallen asleep.  
  
Let Katt argue with him this time, he thought as he placed his son in bed.  
  
Named Ray after the man that had helped them so often, a man he considered almost a brother, the child resembled nothing like his father. The child had begun to grow orange fur, taking after the woren clan blood of his mother.  
  
Maybe it's a good thing he doesn't seem to have any dragon's blood in him, it'll spare him what I went through, he mused as he left the room hoping to settle the fight between his wife, Katt, and his father, Ganer.  
  
"... Bow found Yua, he can go get her back!" Ganer said an almost desperate note in his voice.  
  
Oh boy, here we go again, Ryu thought as he entered the room. "Yua won't go with Bow, she doesn't know him. She does, however, know me. Besides, I always went to go get her when it was time for her naps when we were kids." Ryu said out loud.  
  
"Well then, I'll go, she knows who I am!" Ganer smiled triumphantly.  
  
"Not likely jichan*," Katt smirked, "You were never in the best condition even when you were young, your eyesight's never fully recovered since we rescued you from Everai, and Dr. Kay is not going to let you out of her hospital. So just forget about that idea."  
  
"Well then you, at least, should stay here, you are the boy's mother!" Ganer eyed Katt critically.  
  
"Oh? And who's going to keep Bow from getting Ryu into trouble hmmm?" Katt purred as she leaned back against the all.  
  
Oh Ladon in heaven, she's enjoying this, Ryu thought rather startled at his wife's amusement.  
  
"You said all of the old group was going, right? So what about that Bleu woman, from what I understand she's old enough to hold Bow and the rest in line" Ganer stated as he crossed his arms, clearly disliking the fact that Katt was beginning to mock him.  
  
"Oh, sure she is serious... But only when it comes to important stuff like saving the world." Katt smiled slyly "And if you're going to mention Sten or Jean because they're royalty, I'll remind you that they're both ditching their responsibilities to join us."  
  
"Sten's royalty?" Ryu asked, slightly surprised.  
  
"Yeah, he's gonna marry that Highland princess remember?" Katt turned to Ryu, mocking how Ganer took the situation seriously.  
  
"Don't change the subject!!" Ganer yelled, coughing and regaining his composure, he tried again: "What about that Windian girl, Nina or that Plains Clan fellow, Rand?"  
  
"No offense to Nina, but she's a mouse, she won't raise her voice or object to anything. And Rand.... well, he might have, once upon a time, but after his mother died, I think he devoted himself to his earth god Namanda, so he's gonna be the healer of the group and not gonna fight unless he has to." A note of sorrow had crept into Katt's voice at the last; she knew what it was like to lose parents when they were trying to protect you, so she could sympathize with Rand.  
  
"Ahh, I see. What about the grass man? He looked very serious to me." Ganer was one of those who were able to speak Rand after the funeral, due to his experience with the loss of loved ones and so treated the subject carefully.  
  
"You mean Spar? We weren't been able to find him after Township crashed on Gate so we have no way of contacting him. Look dad, we're wasting time. Bow saw Yua getting on the ship nearly a month ago. Bleu said that she knew where she was headed and that we could only afford to wait a couple of months before we would lose the trail completely. If you're worried about safety, I talked to Sylvia and the Rangers guild will be glad to help guard the city." Ryu stated, tired of the argument.  
  
"I still don't like the fact that you're both leaving. But I understand how you might think it necessary. Just be careful alright, I don't want to lose any of you again." Ganer sighed as he relented to the couple's whishes.  
  
Ryu smiled as Katt engulfed her father-in-law in hug. Ganer seemed surprised at this display of affection; he hadn't realized she wanted to go on an adventure that badly.  
  
***********  
  
Nina admired herself in the mirror, it was still a little weird for her to see herself with white wings but she would get used to it. What she couldn't get used to were the dresses she had to wear as a Windian princess, she almost wished that Yoji, her magic instructor, could have come up with an illusion for this as well as the one for her wings because these dresses were just uncomfortable.  
  
How did you stand it Mina? She wondered.  
  
She was happy to be going on this voyage with her friends; no more need to disguise her black wings, no more dull dinner parties, no more nobles coming to court her. As long as she was with her friends she could accomplish anything. She decided that perhaps she should say good-bye to her sister, as she walked to the balcony where Mina usually nested at this time of day.  
  
Mother has a guest Nina was the telepathic voice that greeted Nina from the great bird on the tower.  
  
Nina marveled at the harness device that Bleu had given them so they could communicate. It made things so much simpler sometimes.  
  
"Not another suitor I hope." Nina sighed, "If I get one more noble looking for my hand in marriage, I'm going to leave and never come back.  
  
Oh, now don't do that. If you leave I'll have to marry one of them, Nina just had to laugh at he image of one of those stuck up nobles walking down the aisle with the renowned Great Bird of Windia.  
  
Seriously though, I think this visitor was a little too old for us. He seemed quite distinguished though. The weird part is he went straight for the royal graveyard and didn't come out for three days. This caught Nina's attention.  
  
"But, isn't that area restricted to the royal family?" Nina asked, intrigued at this breach of court decorum.  
  
Yes, but apparently this guy had a royal windian ring. And not just any ring, but one from four hundred years ago during the reign of queen Nina Heir Winlan. Mina was growing more excited; as she was telling Nina her wings began to spread.  
  
"How do you know when the ring is from?" Nina interrupted.  
  
You know that all royal rings have a design unique to their reign, right? Well Macotti, one of the guards who saw the ring looked it up in the library and found it. He also found that the reign after that queen Nina was the reign where the Winlan kingdom fell and the Legend of the Black Wings started. There were only two rings made during the queen Nina's reign: one for her and one for her consort. Nina paused to think about this.  
  
"I wonder how he got that ring?" She mused aloud.  
  
You could ask him. Mina said pointing with her beak.  
  
Nina turned, a bit startled, and saw him. They were low enough to see a lot of the details of his face. To Nina he seemed almost familiar. From the way he held himself he seemed to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders. Then she felt it: an indescribable power that felt like Anfini, the power Ryu used against DeathEvan, except there was a difference. She turned away because the difference as much as the similarities between this power and Ryu's power disturbed her.  
  
What's wrong? Mina asked worriedly.  
  
"Nothing.... um say, I'm going to be leaving soon. My friends and I are going to cross the Outer Sea and I wanted to say goodbye." Nina said hurriedly to get the odd feelings out of her mind.  
  
Across the Outer Sea? Why in the gods' names do you want to go there? No one has ever returned from there. Sis, are you crazy? Mina asked, shocked that her sister would even consider such a dangerous course.  
  
"You know my friend Ryu right? His sister apparently left on a ship in that direction and I wanted to help them look for her...." Nina continued to speak, not so much as to convince her sister of her need to leave as to dispel the feelings of dread and familiarity that man produced in her. 


	2. Lost Souls

Chapter2: Lost Souls  
  
She was dreaming. She knew she was dreaming because she was a child of four in her dreams when, in truth, she was a young woman of eighteen.  
  
Yua, Yua come inside. It's time for your nap No, I wanna go see mama. Yua, it's a good thing Ryu was able too save you from that monster. Did you really see your mother here? Yeah, if I sleep here mom comes into my dreams. If I had been strong enough you wouldn't need to dream to see your mother. That's not true dad! Yeah, your the strongest mage in the village, everybody says so! Hey sis, if I sleep here do you think mom will come into my dreams?  
  
Here came the part she hated, for she could not wake up, as her dream became a nightmare.  
  
YOU WILL BE FORGOTTEN, NONE SHALL CARE THAT YOU EXIST; YOU ARE PRISONERS OF THE MIGHTY DEATHEVAN!!!  
  
Run Yua, I'll hold them off, just run!!  
  
And then came the confusion.  
  
Who are you little girl? I don't know who I am. No, not again please don't leave me alone, father, and brother save me. Don't leave me...  
  
"... ALONE!!" Yua screamed as she awoke, sitting upright in the bed.  
  
Where the hell am I? She asked herself as she looked around.  
  
The room was quite spacious, the walls made of some white stone, much to rough to be marble. Over near the door her clothes were hanging, cleaned and repaired. In alarm she looked at what she was wearing: a plain beige robe of wool. She examined her body. As always she was lithe and slightly muscular.  
  
The picture perfect draconic specimen. But whoever got a look at me isn't gonna be seeing anything for the next few weeks when I get a hold of them. She glowered as though the culprit might be hiding in the shadows.  
  
After she got dressed she looked around the modest dwelling. Everything seemed well maintained and tidy. As there was not much to see here she proceeded to the door. The landscape was magnificent. Green grass, unusual but beautiful trees and flowers of every type and color greeted her as she walked along the path.  
  
"You might want to watch where you step: it's a long drop." A mysterious voice cautioned her.  
  
The voice caused her to pause, at which point she looked over and down. He was right: it was a long drop. Buildings looked the size of toy houses, animals and people looked like ants and clouds floated beneath her. She could see now that the flying island was only big enough for the house with about a few hundred meters from the house to the edge on the other side. She cautiously stepped back and examined her surroundings. The island was circular in shape and seemed to be a part of a small flotilla of islands flying in orbit of one large landmass at the center. Yua turned to see who had spoken to her a moment before. The only figure there was standing up against the tree. He was dressed in a vest, knee length trousers and sandals. He looked to be in his mid-twenties and was quite muscular, she noted. He had a kind face framed by long purple hair.  
  
"Glad to see you're awake. You were feverish up until a little while ago." He smiled as he spoke.  
  
"Who are you and where is this?" Yua asks cautiously.  
  
"My name is Draigan and this is the Skygarden of Dragonia, where you have been recuperating after you were found on the beach south of here." He looks her over appraisingly.  
  
Yua took a defensive stance and approached Draigan.  
  
"Are you the one who changed my clothes, 'cause if you are prepare for a black eye friend!" She shouts at him.  
  
Draigan merely laughs and says: "Wasn't me. It was the healers, though I think that would be a small price for saving your life!"  
  
"Yeah, well I wouldn't exactly call this place safe!" Yua growls at him.  
  
Draigan sighed and took on a more serious posture as he replied.  
  
"Perhaps, but it is more healthy by far." He stated with an air of sadness.  
  
Yua again took a look at the ground beneath the flying island and she saw nothing out of the ordinary. She turned her gaze out to the west and sees for the first time a mass of gray buildings, all uniform in their appearance, which stood out against the desert landscape. She turned east and suddenly she shivered, feeling a cold malevolent presence in that direction. What truly frightened her was the fact that this presence felt vaguely familiar. She then glanced at Draigan and noticed he too was looking east.  
  
"There has been a disease spreading down there. There have been many people who have been ill, but most recover if they are in an area where the air is pure. Those that don't recover. it's as if they become corrupted in body mind and soul. When I brought you here you had a high fever and were showing symptoms of the illness, but you should be fully recovered in a couple of days. The only other place people go is to the factory and many of them choose to move in permanently." Draigan said. He then smiled, the seriousness of the situation fading as his mood lightened. "Not me though," he laughs. "The factory is much too sterile for my tastes. At any rate I have to go to the Garden if you need me." He said as he nodded toward the main, flying island.  
  
Yua looked at the main floating landmass he pointed to and snorted.  
  
"How're you going to get there? Fly?" She sneered.  
  
Draigan burst out laughing and said, chuckling: "Unlike where ever you are from, the Dragon Clan around here don't have wings."  
  
He motioned for her to follow him. They stop at a small blue pad and he stepped on it and vanishes. Yua thinks about what Draigan had just said and comes to the conclusion that, despite her natural distrust of strangers, it might be a good idea to get to know Draigan.  
  
He wasn't so bad or bad looking either. She thought  
  
***********  
  
Far to the northwest, there lay a great city surrounded by walls and towers. In one of those towers a young man watches the sun set out over the mountains. He wore a short robe over his tanned skin, with a scimitar strapped to his back and he carried a halberd in one hand. While not the strongest of the guards but what he lacked in muscle he made up for in faith in the goddess. It is in fact, religion he was contemplating as another young man intrudes upon his moments of solitude.  
  
"Garr," the newcomer said, "Guard duty isn't for another hour. What are you doing here?"  
  
The newcomer was dressed similarly to Garr and looked to be the same age, in his early twenties. The only noticeable difference was the halberd the newcomer carries: between the haft and the blade there, embedded, was a red jewel; it is also marked with runes making it a familial halberd, sacrosanct and blessed by the goddess. Garr turned from the sunset to look at the intruder.  
  
"This isn't even your post Gaist, so I should ask: what are YOU doing here?" Garr asked.  
  
"I was looking for you to tell you some news. Gaw and his brother, Gatz, have been accepted as Guardians." Gaist sighed.  
  
Garr raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "So there are going to be Guardians, besides the two of us? Are we not sufficient for the Goddess' purpose?" Garr asked incredulously.  
  
"You take things too seriously Garr. Don't get jealous but they are going to undergo the ceremony before we do! In about a month or so the Patriarch will perform the ceremony for Gatz, after that it will be Gaw. I shall be the last one to have it performed on me before all the citizens leave the city. You shall be the only one to have it done in the new city." Gaist laughed.  
  
"So we are truly abandoning this city, Gaist?" Garr asked turning to his friend.  
  
As Garr said this Gaist moved over to the window watching as another caravan departed, turning south for the port at the Factory.  
  
"It's been expected for a while now. The city is near Angel Tower, a holy place. It's called Urkan Tapa." Gaist stated a little sadly.  
  
"Urkan Tapa. That means 'People's Hope' in the old tongue doesn't it?" Garr asked as he descended from the watchtower, Gaist following behind.  
  
"Very good. There aren't many who remember the old language anymore." Gaist smiled, and then considered testing Garr on the language further. "Fru ec dra Erchin*?" (* Who is the master)  
  
Garr smiles and replies; "Uin Kut ec dra Erchin vun cra ec sanlevim*!" (* Our God is the Master for She is merciful)  
  
When the two exited the tower and headed to the armory, Garr stopped and turned to his friend.  
  
"You didn't come just to quiz me on languages and tell me who is first in line to become a Guardian did you?" Garr spoke, his voice becoming grave with impatience.  
  
"True, we are going on patrol for ship-wrecks for the next four weeks. Not exactly my idea of a good time, but Patriarch Sudama gave the order and he gets his orders from the Goddess Herself." Gaist said as he sat down on a nearby bench.  
  
"Patrol? You mean near the Factory? That means we have to interact with THOSE people!" Garr snorted, barely able to contain his disgust of the notion.  
  
Gaist burst out laughing. "'THOSE people'?" He mimics. "What a tone. You really don't like them do you? Heh, it's not like they're the legendary enemy that the priests are always preaching about! If they were, the Goddess would never have let them stay on this continent." Gaist laughed at the thought.  
  
"It's possible that they are the brood that the priests speak of. I mean, look how secretive they are. It's possible that the reason for the return of the Guardians is because we have to fight them!" Garr said, no longer bothering to hide his frustration with Gaist's carefree attitude.  
  
"You can't judge a culture by its practices. Besides we're a pretty secretive society too you know." Gaist smirked, mocking Garr's seriousness.  
  
Garr looked shocked. He had never heard such a blasphemous statement. He turns glaring at Gaist, then stops. Gaist was leaning against a wall laughing silently, clutching his side with one arm and banging the wall with the other. Garr's face turned red, both from anger at Gaist and embarrassment that he let Gaist mock him like that.  
  
"Oh come on! Don't look at me like that it's not my fault you take things too seriously! Look, maybe we'll get lucky on patrol and find that monster that's been howling away night after night and shut it up permanently." Gaist managed to say between laughing fits.  
  
Garr shook his head in frustration and walks towards the armory his laughing friend in tow.  
  
***********  
  
Night has always been and ever shall be a time when few monsters and fewer men dare tread. Near a beach there stumbled a robed figure. His robes are so stained with blood and other substances that the original color is no longer discernible. The flesh that shows through his robes was in various stages of decay. He was covered in a stench of death, decay and pure corruption. Had anyone been able to stand the smell long enough to get close to the figure they would have heard him speaking.  
  
"The key, the key, where is the key? It is close I can feel it, so very close. Soon it will be in my grasp and then I'll get my revenge! Oooooh yes!! The dragon-boy, how we shall amuse ourselves when we find him. And what shall we do when we find him? We'll rip off his scales one by one, we'll boil his flesh, and we'll render his meat for our experiments. And, at the last, when we present his head and the key to the Master, and then we'll be rewarded, oooh yes. The Master will give us the dragon-boy's still beating heart to eat."  
  
At this point the figure began to laugh maniacally but suddenly stopped as another presence intruded upon his musings.  
  
WHAT ARE YOU DOING WORM?  
  
It was a calm voice, but it filled the figure with unparalleled dread.  
  
"M-Master!!" He cried pitifully. Frantically he began to search in the shadows for his unseen master. Then his head came up as though grasped in someone's hand. He brought up his own shaking hands trying to pry away the invisible fingers from his skull.  
  
NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO CONTEMPLATE REVENGE, WORM. I DID NOT BRING YOU BACK FOR THAT. YOURS IS TO GET ME THE KEYS. PERHAPS I SHOULD REMIND YOU OF THE CONCEQUENCES SHOULD YOU FAIL ME AGAIN.  
  
With that the figure began to howl in pain and agony, the noise reaching even the most distant places. Those frightened awake clutch at their loved ones, praying to any god or goddess who would hear, to protect them from this damned soul, whom they are certain is coming to devour them all. Unfortunately, they aren't wrong.  
  
Author's Notes: Jichan is Japanese for old man or grandfather, I think. I'll also be using some Japanese terms through out the story, most of them will be attacks, so you'll know what they mean through the description, any others I'll tell you what it means. 


	3. Souls Abroad

Chapter3: Souls abroad  
  
A lone figure atop a black stallion charged across the tundra of the Capitan region. The Wanderer had just passed the city of Capitan, but his destination was not the recently built city of Newport at the northern tip of the Capitan region. Newport was a port city with just one major attraction: it provided easy access to the Outer Sea. After the defeat of DeathEvan, there were tremors that destroyed a section of the coral reef that had previously prevented anyone from exploring the Outer Sea beyond Giant Monster Island. According to local legend, the coral reef had been enchanted, either by the goddess Tyr or the sorceress Bleu; no one is really sure which. The enchantment was made so that any ship, ocean creature or bird, once they approached the reef, would be teleported to the opposite end of the reef barrier still heading in the same direction as when they had approached the reef. With the barrier gone, so was the enchantment. This prompted shipwrights, explorers and various dukes, barons and heads-of-state to construct shipyard cities, from which explorer ships could depart to see the new frontier of the Outer Sea.  
  
The city of Newport had been constructed to the north of Capitan, where there was nothing except scorched earth. The shipyard and docks had been made at the base of the cliffs along with a floating market managed by members of the merchant Gobi clan.  
  
Whilst the city and floating market were crowded with people it was not the kind of place a person could remain inconspicuous, which is what the Wanderer needed. It was not the time for him to be discovered by his enemies.  
  
The Wanderer dismounted his black stallion on the eastern cliffs, to the north of Capitan. After inspecting the drop from the cliff, he turned to his horse, placed his hands over it and began to speak in an ancient tongue. A light spread over the horse, but it made neither sound nor movement. After the light dissipated, where the horse had been, there was a small obsidian statuette, crudely carved in the shape of a horse. The Wanderer picked up the statuette and turned toward the cliff. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, but when he opened them they were the eyes of a serpent. With little hesitation, he jumped of the cliff. As he descended, his fall slowed as gossamer dragon's wings appeared from his back. After a soft landing, he turned to the water and reached a hand in his pouch. His pouch, another mystical object. It could hold an infinite amount of items as long as one could fit said items into the mouth of the pouch. All one had to do was call the name of the item one wanted and, as long as one had put it there previously, one could pull the desired item out.  
  
"Boat!" The Wanderer intoned.  
  
From the pouch the Wanderer pulled a wooden carved boat covered in runes. He placed it in the water and began to chant in an ancient language. As a blue light engulfed the model ship, it began to expand and grow becoming a magnificent dual-masted boat large enough for several people. There is a picture of a gold dragon on the sails.  
  
"Thanks Bleu." The Wanderer chuckled softly.  
  
With small effort the Wanderer shoved off, the boat moving faster than naturally possible with the lack of wind. And as the boat crests the horizon the Wanderer speaks a small prayer to Likimia, goddess of the sea and of the Gobi clan:  
  
Your sea is Large  
  
And My Boat is Small Protect my life and Mission.  
  
***********  
  
Katt and Ryu had just arrived in Newport; it had not taken them very long. Inside the city they began to search for the tavern that Bow had told them he would wait for them at. Ryu marveled at the sights of the city and Katt chided him for looking like a tourist.  
  
"I'm just looking at the architecture of the buildings!" he exclaimed "Don't they look familiar to you?"  
  
The buildings did look familiar and were known trademark designs of the two carpenters in Capitan: one was a traditional brick and mortar type house while the other, which was a little less frequently seen was a wooden house usually used by forest clansmen.  
  
"Of course I know them! That's why I don't stare at 'em." She replied. "Now what was the name of the place Bow was supposed to meet us anyway?"  
  
"It was some tavern called Siren's Call and we should hurry: he might not be there anymore 'cause he most certainly has gotten himself into trouble by now." Ryu said a little worriedly.  
  
They rounded the next street, and saw Bow sitting on the porch of the tavern looking a little glum although his mood changed dramatically when he saw Katt and Ryu approaching. He was wearing the same ranger outfit that he had worn since he had known Ryu: light gray tunic, green trousers hardened leather boots and crossbow strapped to his back. The only major change in his appearance was the bandages that covered his left eye.  
  
"What the hell happened to you?" Was Ryu's greeting to his lifetime friend.  
  
"Heh heh heh. A small.um.accident a short while ago. It's. um no big deal." Bow said sheepishly.  
  
"Oh yeah? Whadja do? Put your hand on some poor waitress?" Katt snickered.  
  
"Actually, he didn't duck when I told him to!" A new voice said.  
  
The three turned to the newcomer. It was Rand. He had been in the shadows leaning up against the wall of the tavern with his arms crossed. Ryu was a little surprised that he hadn't noticed him until now.  
  
Rand chuckled as he continued. "He got drunk, got into a barroom brawl and didn't duck when I told him to."  
  
"Now wait a minute, that's not exactly what happened." Bow said.  
  
"Riiiight! As if you would know what happened. You were drunk!" Rand laughed.  
  
Ryu shook his head in exasperation and looked at his wife to ask what to do. Katt nodded at the two, an indication he should stop the fight before it really got messy.  
  
"Hey guys! Have any of the others come by recently?" Ryu asked them.  
  
The two stopped in their near-fight and thought about it. They looked at each other deciding who would tell them. Rand took the opportunity.  
  
"Bleu is down at the docks, but I haven't seen anyone else." Rand stated.  
  
"I think saw Nina talking to a shipwright yesterday, but I'm not sure." Bow shrugged.  
  
"Neither of you have seen Jean or Sten?" Katt asked.  
  
Neither of them had a chance to reply as a new voice rang out from a restaurant a short walk away.  
  
"Step right up ladies and gentlemen, preferably ladies, and try your luck. Pay one zenny and kiss this all-you-can-eat frogs legs buffet to see if he will change into a handsome prince! Those who are runners up get a date with me instead: Sten the Magnificent!"  
  
Sure enough there was Sten, standing on top of a giant sleeping frog. He had drawn quite a crowd. There were quite a number of young women, some of which seemed to be daring each other to either kiss the frog or date the highlander.  
  
"He never learns, does he? I shoulda hit him harder the first time." Katt growled.  
  
"I think I'll go stop him before this gets any worse." Bow exclaimed.  
  
"Hey Sten! What did you do to Jean to get him to agree to this?"  
  
"Wha. Oh hi Bow! Um. I didn't do anything to him. I found him asleep like this when I got here, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to get some travel money." Sten said a little embarrassed as he held the small bag of coins he had collected.  
  
Ryu took the bag and began redistributing the wealth back to its previous owners, while Rand and Bow handled crowd control, dispersing the people. The crowd had nearly completely dissipated when Spigot, the restaurant owner came to talk to them.  
  
"Ya can do sometin' about 'im, ya?" he pointed to the oversized frog.  
  
"No problem!" Katt exclaimed. "What did you feed him anyway?" She said as she sniffed at the frog trying to get a discernable scent of the food he had eaten.  
  
"Notin' but our best Island Shi-su, ya?" He said in an offended manner.  
  
"Oh. In that case I know what not to order." Katt Replied. "Hey Rand, can you wake sleeping beauty up?"  
  
"One wake up call, coming up!" Rand stated in as he cracked his knuckles.  
  
Rand's special technique: Wake; one punch, causing minimal damage but waking the target up. Rand's punch landed right between Jean's eyes, which immediately flew open. The giant frog then seemed to melt into the 'regal' figure of Jean, wearing his usual blue hauberk and rapier.  
  
"Oh la la, mes amis. It eez good to zee you again." He said sleepily.  
  
"Nice place to fall asleep Jean." Rand smirked.  
  
"Eet iz not my fault, I think I am alergique to zee horseradish in ze Shi- su." He exclaimed.  
  
"Alright, we should head to the docks now, maybe Nina is waiting for us somewhere." Ryu said as he waved the group towards the docks.  
  
"Ah oui, Madame Nina. She said that she needed to speak with one of zee shipmasters that work for zee Windian kingdom so she would be at ze docks."  
  
The group of friends traveled to the literal edge of the city, the shipyards, and markets and less reputable places of business having been built at the base of the Capitan region cliffs. The base of the cliffs were connected to the rest of the city via elevators designed, built and operated by the Highlanders, an imminently preferable agreement as opposed to hiring them as soldiers. The companions marveled at the construction and maintenance of the elevators and the view was spectacular: the horizon seemed to stretch on forever.  
  
"They must have incredible sunsets out here!" Katt sighed as she rested her head on Ryu's shoulder.  
  
"We never did get to see any good ones while we were out here last time huh? Maybe we can stay long enough to see one this time." He replied draping his arm on her shoulder.  
  
As they got out of the elevator an old friend greeted them: Kilgore. The man who had once asked Bow to steal from Trout walked up to the companions with a broad smile.  
  
"Bow! How have you been? It is good to see you again!" Kilgore exclaimed as he shook Bow's hand.  
  
"Kilgore! I'm sorry if you're here to ask me for another favor, I'm not in that business anymore!" They both laughed at the small joke. "So Kilgore, what brings you here?"  
  
"Well actually, I was commissioned by the Windian government to provide the new prototype battleship, the Nina for a special expedition to the Outer Sea." He smiled self-importantly.  
  
"Wait a minute! YOU'RE the shipmaster Nina's gonna get the ship from?" Sten stated, shocked, from his position sitting on Rand's shoulder.  
  
"Gee, monkey-brain, nothing gets by you, does it?" Rand laughed as he shook Sten off. "Let's review the evidence, shall we? First, the Windian government commissioned him and Nina IS the government out here. Second, the ship is called the Nina, which may have been a coincidence if not for the first point. Last the ship is going to the Outer Sea, our destination. It doesn't take a genius to figure out that he's the ship's master!"  
  
"Oh monsieur Rand, monsieur Sten, there eez no need to be angry with each other, especially on the beginning of another aventure!"  
  
"Oh, Ladon! You should show us to the ship." Ryu said as he began to laugh at the antics of his friends.  
  
As they approached the docks Nina and their ship's captain met them. The man, who was introduced as Amos Trask, greeted them warmly and told them what he expected of them on this voyage.  
  
"Ye'll not be lazin' about during this trip! I expect ya ta pull yer weight on my ship, or ye'll find yerselves swimmin' home, got it? And if ye dare cause any sort 'o trouble on my ship, I'll pop yer tiny little heads off yer twiggy little necks and mount them on me trophy wall. Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!" he laughed long and loud at the last.  
  
"He's not serious, right?" Bow whispered to Nina nervously.  
  
They all nodded affirmative to the captain and prepared to continue on their way when Bow stopped them.  
  
"Where's Bleu? Nina, you must have seen her around here, right?" He said as he scanned the docks.  
  
"Yeah that's right! Have you seen her Nina?" Ryu asked.  
  
To his surprise she blushed bright red as she pointed behind him. He turned to see Bleu, sitting on a barrel, her indigo hair flowing in the wind. He could see why Nina had blushed: she had been embarrassed for Bleu, who was wearing a simple and revealing two-piece bikini, her serpent's tail replaced by a pair of very attractive human legs. Ryu felt his throat catch and his mind go blank. At least, until he felt someone tugging on his ear. He turned to see Katt, his wife, glaring at him.  
  
Ooh, I'm in for it now. He thought.  
  
He turned to Bow hoping for some kind of support, but found his friend had his mouth open with his tongue dangling out, staring at Bleu.  
  
My sentiments exactly! Ryu thought as he shook his head at his friend.  
  
He turned again to his wife to find she wasn't glaring at him anymore; no, she was glaring at Bow. Worse still, her tail was all fluffed out, making it look twice as large as usual. Ryu had seen her mad like that only once and he backed away because he knew what was next. She calmly took out her staff, never loosing her glare, and swung; smashing the poor unsuspecting Bow on the head.  
  
"Jerk!" She growled, "You'd think he'd never seen a woman before!"  
  
"Um.Bleu?" Nina asked timidly. "Maybe you should change into something else before something happens?"  
  
"Kid, the idea of wearing something like this IS for 'something' to happen." Bleu said.  
  
She winked at a sailor on another pier who, consequently, wasn't paying attention to where he was going and fell in the water.  
  
"Oh, alright, I'll change." Bleu said in an exasperated tone.  
  
She snapped her fingers and was immediately attired in her typical outfit, except her legs, which were still human, which she had adorned with common leather trousers. However, they didn't leave much to the imagination. The newly reunited group then proceeded to the pier at which they were to depart, reminiscing along the way. Sten was apologizing profusely for not having attended Ryu and Katt's wedding, but swearing he would visit to see their child Ray. They arrived at the pier and marveled at the sight they beheld: the prototype Man 'O War Windian ship, not truly a ship but a sea- faring fortress. Gun ports lined the sides of the hull, and heavy bronze and iron cannons poked their formidable noses at any would-be opponent. The cannons were the heaviest then made and could fling a fifty pound iron ball nearly a kilometer. It was heavily decorated, displaying the Windian royal colors and family crest.  
  
"This isn't a ship, it's a floating fortress!" Sten exclaimed. "Why do we need so much firepower, Nina?"  
  
"Well, there have been rumors of pirates in the area, mostly just Evrai fanatics. The main reason is that we need a heavy deep-water ship and this one stands the best chance of making it across the ocean. The captain may seem a bit gruff but he's the best there is: if anyone can get us across it's him." Nina replied.  
  
Ryu jumped onto the gangplank, crossed his arms and smiled the roguish smile that made people trust him so much.  
  
"All right people, after this there isn't any turning back. If you want to go back home now, I wouldn't blame you, I would understand." He said.  
  
"One last adventure, buddy!" Bow shouted enthusiastically.  
  
"Never regretted going with you the first time. Ain't gonna start now!" Rand said raising his fists to the heavens.  
  
"Where you go, I go." Katt smiled, displaying her wedding ring.  
  
"I will be able to compose new songs for new places!" Jean mused.  
  
"Wouldn't want it any other way!" Sten said.  
  
"New sights to see, new magics to learn." Nina laughed.  
  
"Okay since that's settled, can we go now?" Bleu asked impatiently.  
  
"Alright, all aboard who's going aboard!" Ryu said as he led the group on board towards new horizons and uncharted waters.  
  
***********  
  
Garr woke on the edge of a small outcropping connected to the face of a cliff. He got up and checked himself for wounds. He found the broken haft of his *naginata and that his scimitar and dirk were still in their sheaths. To his relief, he found the protective amulet, a mystical amulet that protects all the Urkan people who wear it from disease and illness, was intact around his neck.  
  
Ouch! That is the last time I try to ride a sandworm bareback! He thought rubbing his sore backside.  
  
Hope that Gaist and the sand-flyer got through ok.  
  
Garr examined his current situation. Getting back to the sand-flyer would be extremely difficult: the climb back up would be on a vertical cliff: impossible without the right equipment. It was the same for the way down. All he could do was sit, wait and pray to the Goddess that Gaist could find him. He was contemplating making a signal fire when he heard someone singing.  
  
"The minstrel boy, to war hath gone! In the ranks of death ye'll find him. His father's sword he has girded on! And the harp he drags behind him."  
  
Garr snickered to himself; there was only one person he knew who would sing that song while everyone else sang the praises of the Goddess.  
  
"Gaist! Are you trying to bring back that sandworm with a mating call?" He shouted.  
  
"Oh, ha ha! His Seriousness is trying to make light of the situation hmmm? Perhaps I should leave you to your own devices?" Came the reply.  
  
Garr waited for something else to be said or done. He was not disappointed when he saw the butt of Gaist's Beast Spear descend towards him.  
  
"Grab on to this! I'll pull you up!" Gaist shouted.  
  
It was not without effort that Gaist lifted Garr. When they were both catching their respective breaths Garr took the opportunity to see what Gaist had with him. All he could see were some small supplies and a beacon. He knew that the sand-flyer had not survived the run in with the giant sandworm.  
  
"So, I guess were on foot for now?" Garr asked tiredly  
  
"Yeah. The beacon is on so they should find us soon, but I don't think we're going to be allowed to stop our patrol. We'll probably head back with the next convoy." Gaist replied.  
  
"That means we'll never make it back in time for Gatz's ceremony!" Garr cried out.  
  
"Why does it matter? We'll get to see Gaw's and you'll get to see mine. Say you're not worried about that special weapon thing are you?" Gaist said as he turned to his friend.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Garr asked nervously.  
  
"Well, I have my Beast Spear, Gaw has his double-handed six-foot long Ogre Blade and even Gatz has those Dual Axes of his. You, on the other hand, haven't got anything." Gaist pointed out.  
  
"Those weapons are family heirlooms. My father died fighting during patrol, and my mother died when she gave birth to me. I don't have a family to be given such things." Garr said as he turned away.  
  
"Look, Garr, you have always been like a little brother to me, so I'll find you a spear that will be yours and yours alone, ok? Now we got a long ways to go and it's better to travel at night when it's cooler, so, let's get a move on!" Gaist said as the two friends began to walk southward.  
  
Author's Notes * A naginata is a Japanese spear that has a long blade at the end, like a sword, instead of a simple point. 


	4. Soul Searching

Chapter 4: Soul Searching  
  
Sitting back in a chair, Yua contemplated her current situation. Things had changed greatly from how her life had been up to that point. For one thing she had been taught never to trust anyone unless they're gullible enough to trust you, 'cause then you could find out their real motives and decide whether to trust them for real. She had broken that simple rule with Draigan; he was so open and honest. They had become very intimate with each other, telling each other details of their lives they didn't tell anyone else. He was an Elder, a leader of the community, and then he was sent up here to govern the garden. The sudden plague that attacked the people left him with many of the sick on the main island. His people were the remnants of the black dragon clan sent to this continent by emperor Zog and he was in fact the descendant of Zog. How they had been sent here, he didn't know, why? Well to prevent the extinction of his people at the hands of the world. She told him that a thief named Karn, who had found her after she had lost her memories, had raised her. After she left that home she had never seen him again. She had found her family two years ago but had not stayed with them. This had prompted Draigan to ask her something.  
  
"Why didn't you stay with them?" He had asked.  
  
"I've spent most of my life as 'Patty the Phantom Thief' and I felt that I needed to find out who I am as 'Yua'." She had replied sorrowfully.  
  
"I will accept you and I will always be here for you, no matter what happens." He said as he held her.  
  
From there their relationship had gone into a more physical aspect. But that was days ago, there was still things she didn't know, like where he went during the day. It was small things like that that irritated her. Knowing that he went to the garden each day, she decided to visit the main island of Skygarden when she was strong enough to walk. And that day was today. She walked onto the blue pad and was astonished. It was as if she suddenly realized she was not where she was a second ago. She was standing in what appeared to be a shrine of some kind. Behind her there was a statue above the blue pad. It was in the likeness of a woman with three pairs of wings. In the statue's outstretched hands floated a key that had the symbol for 'sky' on it. At twelve equidistant points in the shrine there were twelve blue pads with twelve dragon statues with roman numerals on them. She exited the structure to view a magnificent landscape: it was indeed a garden. Flowers and trees of all types were scattered about, dirt paths lead the way through grassy hills, forests and flowerbeds. There were people there too. Some were wandering; some were sitting by themselves, most of them had plain clothes. There were a few who had robes of white cloth on; they hovered among the masses like wraiths. Yua spotted one woman sitting by the stairs to the shrine; she had a faraway look in her eyes. Yua decided that it would be best to ask someone where Draigan was.  
  
"Excuse me, do you know where a man named Drai." Yua paused as the woman looked at her from the corner of her eyes.  
  
"S-something wrong?" Yua asked as the woman stared at her.  
  
The woman had her eyes so wide open that they appeared as though they would fall out of her head. She stood up and began to mumble something indiscernible.  
  
"What was that? I can't hea-" Yua never had the chance to finish her sentence as the woman began to jump up and down screaming at the top of her lungs.  
  
"YOUHADMEATHELLOYOUHADMEATHELLO" she screeched over and over again.  
  
Yua jumped away from the woman startled. The commotion had caused many to turn and watch. One of the 'wraiths' moved towards the two, his hood thrown back to reveal himself as human. He placed his palm towards the hysterical woman, holding to fingers vertically in front of his face. The woman stopped to stare at the apparent cleric.  
  
"Oh winds of rest, bring this tortured soul to repose. SLEEP!" He chanted.  
  
The women grew drowsy and fell into the cleric's arms. He turned toward Yua one eyebrow arched.  
  
"What the hell is wrong with her?" Yua asked.  
  
"The same thing that is wrong with every one else here. A disease that corrupts mind, body and soul has infected them. If I didn't know any better I would think that Morgion, god of plague and corruption hadn't died during the All Saints War." He replied bitterly.  
  
"All Saints what?" She asked.  
  
"All Saints War. A war between the gods that happened at the beginning of time. The story is a little long but there are some books on the subject in the library on the surface." He explained as he placed the woman carefully on the ground.  
  
"Oh. Say have you seen Draigan by any chance?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"Draigan? No I haven't seen him, but he should be with the children now. Take that path, it should lead straight to him." He stated pointing out the center-most path.  
  
As she walked the path she marveled at the trees; they resembled a tree she remembered visiting near her home of Gate. Draigan had once told her that some goddess had lifted these trees to this place when the Desert of Death swept through the region. There was one last tree, millennia old, which remained on the surface: the tree of life, Yggdrasil still grew strong in an oasis. As she approached a clearing she could hear laughing: children and an adult laughing. In truth, she had never heard such a pleasurable sound in her entire life. She watched as some children played tag with each other, but then she saw who she was looking for; Draigan was sitting by a tree holding a sleeping little girl in his arms.  
  
"You really care for them don't you?" Yua asked as she entered the clearing. She felt connected to these children, but the reason escaped her, though it felt important.  
  
"Yeah. Spending time with these kids was all I had, until I met you." He spoke solemnly as he rose to meet her. He placed the sleeping child on the grass careful not to awaken her.  
  
"Why do you care so much?" She asked as she found herself pressed close against his body.  
  
"These kids are like me in a way. They're orphans, they have no family. I may have a father, but he. He never acted like it. There was always something happening that prevented him being with me. So, I try to be as much of a father as I can to these children." He said as he held Yua close, a note of regret in his voice.  
  
"Is that why you care for me too? Because you can relate to me?" She asked softly.  
  
"It is one of the reasons." He stated.  
  
She had no chance to reply to him as he kissed her passionately. Yua simply let the warmth of his embrace wash over her.  
  
***********  
  
A small boat reached the southwestern shore of the Outer Continent. It had taken the boat a long time to make the journey, but due to its inherent magic it remained intact and it's passenger safe. The Wanderer disembarked, shrank the boat to its wood carving state and returned it to his pouch. He briefly surveyed the landscape: a dry desert devoid of plant life, veritably uninhabitable. Out of the corner of his eye he perceived movement from his left.  
  
"Tyr's welcoming committee." He said as he spied a small platoon of robots heading his way.  
  
The robots had a uniform design: they hovered on one leg had no arms and unremarkable faceplates. They had no visible weapons, however, since these were the goddess' creations one could not judge upon appearance alone.  
  
"Good, I need the exercise." The Wanderer said as he unsheathed his sword.  
  
The blade seemed to glow as he closed his eyes. When he opened them again they were the eyes of a serpent. He charged at the approaching robots, slicing one into two pieces and spinning to bisecting another one that had gotten behind him.  
  
"Warning! Target displays full-grown Brood abilities! Initiating defensive protocols, requesting assistance!" One of the robots squawked.  
  
The machines began to circle the Wanderer at a high speed. Expecting some kind of attack, he went into a defensive stance. Suddenly, lightning shot out from all directions, shocking the Wanderer. The jolt of pain caused him to lose his sword; it flew through the air and the blade sank into a stone. Reacting out of draconic instinct he fought back using his fists. His enhanced strength allowed him to break through the circling robots, though the pain still caused him to stumble in an almost drunken manner. When he got his bearings he saw that three more robots had taken up a defensive position. They were larger and more heavily armed than the others; sporting two guns in the same position arms would be on a human. The lead robot had been charging up and seemed ready to fire off its weapon.  
  
"Oh shi-" He began but had no time to finish as the energy bullet fire catching him full in the chest.  
  
The blast actually did little damage due to his armor, however the impact was enough to send him flying into the waters deep enough to hide him from view from the machines. The robots took up a defensive position along the beach and simply waited for the Wanderer to surface. No figure rose from the ocean, but the water began to bubble as though nitrogen had been placed in it. Suddenly a dragon burst forth from the water, the water behind it frozen. The robots fired at the dragon but they were not fast enough to hit it before it rose out of range. The dragon remained aloft; it's white as snow scales gleamed in the sun, it's fangs and claws seemed to be made of ice though they truly would never melt. The ice dragon inhaled, preparing its breath weapon, and dived. Its wings tucked in so that it achieved tremendous speed. At the last second before it hit the water it opened its wings and charged toward the robots never loosing its speed. The dragon unleashed his breath weapon: a potent cold blast of absolute zero. Most of the robots froze as the blast hit them, others froze then shattered under the force, and the rest scattered to avoid their destruction. Landing on the beach the dragon destroyed the frozen robots and turned its attention to the others. They put up a pitiful attempt to subdue the mighty beast, but to no avail, as they were smashed one after another. The only one remaining was the one that had fired the energy bullet before, for this one the dragon raised a massive claw and squashed it. The massive creature settled on the ground and began to change. The wings wrapped around him like a cloak and a moment later became a red cloak. The Wanderer's features became prominent as scales melted into clothing, claws and fangs shifted into hands and human teeth. The Wanderer breathed heavily as though the strain had been too much for him. Black wisps of smoke came out of his mouth as he began to cough uncontrollably.  
  
"D-damn. -cough cough- He got here b -cough- before me." He grabbed his chest as though to contain the pain therein.  
  
He stumbled toward the stone that held his sword to remove it. As he sheathed his sword he closed his eyes so he could focus. Again he began to change, his hands becoming claws, his face elongated into a dragon's snout and his cloak seemed to spread into wings. He further changed in size and shape until he was a full-grown gold dragon. He flew up into the air until he could see for miles. He inhaled sharply and held his breath for a moment; he then unleashed his holy breath upon the continent. It blanketed the land, encountering black mist as it spread: the two gasses neutralizing each other. As the holy mist spread, he relaxed, very tired after his journey and the sudden exertion. A flash of light from the ocean caught his eye and he turned towards it. Just beyond the horizon, almost beyond his draconic vision, he saw a ship assaulted by a storm. The storm was definitely unnatural as it covered so little of the sky and was focused.  
  
"Damn you Tyr! I won't allow you to hurt him or his friends!" He growled to himself as he flew towards the ship.  
  
***********  
  
Gaist sighed at the empty food sack, as though he were attempting to wish food into existence with the noise.  
  
"I'm hungry!" He moaned.  
  
"Shut up." Garr growled at him from his corner.  
  
"I'm starving!" Gaist repeated.  
  
"Shut up!" Garr growled, a little more forcefully this time.  
  
"I really wish I had some of Miranda's Beast Meat Stew right now. With mushrooms and spices and."  
  
"If you hadn't went off course we would never met that sandworm, never lost our supplies or the sand-flyer. So stop dreaming of your girlfriend's cooking 'cause you're just making things worse." He stood as he said this, frustration over the last few days finally coming to the surface.  
  
The two had made it to the beach; however, Garr had stopped speaking to Gaist, combined with the lack of nourishment, tension had risen over the past few days. Gaist's way of breaking the silence was adding even more strain to their friendship.  
  
"I wonder if those are edible?" Gaist pointed to something behind Garr  
  
Garr turned to see three giant crabs approaching and he groaned; this was not turning out to be his day. Gaist motioned that he would take the two on the right and Garr could have the one on the left. Gaist, taking out his Beast Spear, focused his power preparing to take out the first crab quickly.  
  
"SHIPPU KEN!" He yelled as he thrust his spear forward.  
  
The wind gust caused by his wind strike technique flipped the crab on its back. Gaist propelled himself upwards using his spear like a pole vault. He descended using his full weight pulled by gravity to plunge the spear through the crab's soft under belly. He leapt of the crab and turned to his new opponent, focusing his energy for another attack.  
  
"SHIPPU KEN!" He yelled, repeating his previous actions.  
  
However, this crab used its giant claws to block the blow. Gaist merely smiled and stepped back a few paces.  
  
"Better than I thought. Good." He chuckled to himself.  
  
He charged at the approaching crab and vanished. The crab halted in its tracks, confused at the sudden disappearance of its opponent. Without warning something began to strike at it from all sides. The beast cried out in confusion and pain, unable to defend itself. As swiftly as he had disappeared, Gaist reappeared smiling with confidence his spear at the ready.  
  
"Let's end this!" He whispered under his breath as he charged his energy again.  
  
The crab placed its claws in front of itself to defend against what it thought would be another wind strike. This time however, a ghostly image of Gaist appeared in front of the crab and thrust its spear forward. The force of the spirit blast technique shattered one of the claws of the crab, causing it to lose its defensive pose as it roared in pain. Gaist charged towards his enemy and vanished, using his shadow walk technique to attack within the crab's guard. He thrust upward with his spear, the blade piercing its brain case, killing it instantly. Wiping sweat of his brow, Gaist turned to see how his apprentice friend fared against his own opponent. Gaist was quite astonished at what he saw: Garr was continuously dodging the monster's attacks, holding his hands together in prayer.  
  
"What the hell does he thinks he's doing? Does he expect the Goddess to come down and strike his foe with holy lightning or something?" Gaist shook his head at what he believed was sure idiocy.  
  
Gaist was about to help his friend when suddenly Garr stopped moving. Garr then thrust his hands towards the sky, his palms upward and began to chant.  
  
"The time of exorcism is at hand, Venomous serpents unleash thy dark flames! FIREBLAST!" Garr cried.  
  
A great pillar of fire engulfed the crab, its insides boiled under the incredible heat. The pressure caused by the magic turned the crab on its backside revealing its underbelly to blackened and charred. Garr fell to his knees with exhaustion, unused to using his magic.  
  
"Forgot you were studying magic for a second. Okay, I'll clean 'em, you cook 'em!" Gaist grinned at his former weapon's student.  
  
Garr, desperately hoping Gaist was joking, attempted to dissuade him of the notion when he noticed that Gaist's expression had changed, becoming far more serious than normal. Gaist turned towards the sea, searching for something. His eyes widened as he had apparently found what he was looking for. He charged for the water and dived in. Garr, still weak from the use of his power, sat on the beach attempting to catch his breath. He scanned the sea in hopes of spotting the same thing Gaist had. Then he saw it: lumber and scrap from a ship-wreak, only a few hours old. His eyes followed Gaist as he returned to the beach carrying someone in his arms. It was a young man with blue hair. The young man's wounds were not visible at first until Garr saw that the young man's chest was partially deflated as though a heavy object had smashed it. Blood covered the young man's face and arms and Garr could see that the young man was clutching to something in his left hand. Garr would have said the young man was dead until he saw a finger twitch.  
  
"Holy shit! He's still. He's still alive?!" Garr said, only now beginning to catch his breath.  
  
Gaist laid the boy on the ground and placed his hands over the wound and began to focus. The words of his teacher coming to his mind: "Do not use healing magic on broken bones, unless it is a life or death situation. Since the magic only accelerates the natural healing process it can do more harm than good in that case."  
  
"Oh glorious Goddess, lend me thy radiant power to breath life into this withered body! RENEW!" He chanted, praying fervently that it would work.  
  
The young man's face twisted in agony as the magic took effect but eventually calmed down as his wounds healed. Gaist collapsed from the exertion glad to see his patient had survived. The young man's eyes fluttered open weakly as he tried to speak. Garr bent over him to hear what he said.  
  
"Who. am. I.?" The young man asked before he fell unconscious.  
  
Garr looked at the young man and his friend. He noticed the young man had loosened his grip on what he had been holding. Garr saw that it was a woman's purple gauntlet. 


	5. Wounded Souls

Chapter5: Wounded Souls  
  
The sun was setting over the body of water known as the Outer Sea as Rand emerged from the water. He cradled an unconscious Katt in his arms. He had just spent nearly an hour looking for her in the water and now he needed to find a dry, safe place to tend to her. She only had a broken leg, granted it was broken in several places, but once mended, she would awaken soon. He looked inland and despaired at the sight of endless desert, neither flora nor apparent fauna on the landscape, which meant no means to make a fire or things to eat. Rand found a small outcropping of rock flat enough to serve as a sort of bed, and so, he gently placed Katt onto the stone. He looked at the sand beneath him and ran his hands through it; being a farmer he would be able to tell if there was any life at all in the earth.  
  
"Unbelievable, it's. Dead. No life at all." Rand whispered, sorrow and despair in his voice.  
  
He turned toward the beach and saw the lifeboats landing, the sailors exhausted from their flight from the ship. Rand continued to watch as Bow clambered out of the lead boat, soaked to the bone.  
  
"How's Sten? Is he doing better?" Rand asked as Bow walked up to him.  
  
"Sten is fine. You saved his life I think, healing him back there." Bow replied, observing the scenery.  
  
"That's good at least. Hey, break up those boats! I'll need the wood to make a splint for Katt's leg." Rand shouted to the sailors.  
  
"Right lad. And the rest of you bilge-rats; get to work on the rest of those boats. We'll need shelter and beds. Move-it, move-it." Captain Trask began to order his crew, organizing them into groups to make shelter and to fish for food.  
  
"Where are Nina, Bleu, Jean and Ryu? Have you seen anyone else?" Rand asked as he prepared Katt's leg for the splint, trying to set the bone correctly.  
  
"I saw a second group of boats, they had Nina, Bleu and Jean. But, they were heading in another direction, so I have no idea where they'll end up. As for Ryu." At this point Bow just seemed to collapse, his strength and energy draining out of him. "I haven't seen Ryu since Katt went overboard. I think he may have been lost at sea."  
  
Rand stopped all action and slowly turned to Bow, shock and disbelief evident on his face. Bow collapsed on a rock, tears pouring from his eyes, not believing that his best friend could be gone. Sten had been placed near Katt, but was still unconscious and thus, totally oblivious to the whole conversation. Rand started to shake and he clenched his fists as he remembered that he had seen out of the corner of his eye, Ryu struck by a falling mast. It did not seem likely that Ryu could have survived.  
  
He can't be dead, not after all we have been through. His mind cried out. "Is this fate? That he should die after saving the world? Dammit, can't I protect those I care about? Am I so powerless?" He demanded as he pounded the rocks.  
  
The sailors, distraught by this display, continued to work, despite their own feelings. Ryu had made many friends on this trip, as always, and the sailors mourned their loss and felt worse still for Katt, who had lost a friend, a lover and husband.  
  
Did she know? A detached part of Bow's mind wondered. Is that why she doesn't wake up? A broken leg would not keep her knocked-out this long. He thought as he continued to mourn the loss of his friend.  
  
Unknown to all on that beach, they were being watched and those silhouettes turned from their observations and walked to places only they knew where.  
  
*******  
  
Nina walked on a gray, misty landscape. She could not remember how long she had been walking and knew only that she had been here since she had lost consciousness on the ship. She could hear a harsh wind howling, but she could not feel it. For a brief moment she considered the possibility that she could be dead and she was walking through a way station for lost spirits. She calmly put two fingers on the vein in her forearm to test her pulse. Instead of feeling the continuous beat of her heart, she heard and felt her heart beat all around her. She quickly came to the conclusion that she was not dead, but in a sort of dream state. Now all that remained was to determine where she was so that she could return to the waking world. The mist, as though it were responding to her desire, parted revealing a city in the distance. Suddenly the city seemed to approach at an incredible speed until Nina was standing at the gate. The buildings were all destroyed, mere piles of rubble beside the roads, so she could not tell if this was a city to which she had been before. There were no people, no corpse, though she could here cries of agony and people crying. She saw in the distance the ruins of a castle atop a hill, surrounded by water that cascaded down the hill into the main city. With shock she recognized the city layout as that of Windia. She turned, examining her surroundings, seeing nothing but smoldering ruins, fearfully wondering what had happened to her beloved home. Was this the present, was Windia being destroyed now? Was she, in her coma state, being shown the future?  
  
It's the past. A ghostly voice said.  
  
Since it was the first voice she heard that had been directed at her, she was rather startled. She did not recall hearing about Windia being destroyed in history, except for the fall of Winlan, which occurred just before the rise of Windia.  
  
Could this be Winlan? She wondered as she walked the streets.  
  
A phantom moving among the rubble caught her eye, as it was the only other person, if you could indeed term it a person, besides herself. She followed the phantasm as it made its way to the castle. As she approached she noticed other ghosts among the ruins; mostly they were soldiers, all wounded in some horrible manner. The inflamed claw marks on their flesh were the proof that they had been fighting demons and from the few towers still standing and the destroyed city, they had not been victorious. More phantoms appeared, heading towards the castle. Nina believed that someone or something wanted to see an important event in Windia's or, more accurately, Winlan's history. The fall of Winlan, everyone had heard about it, but no one knew what had caused it, only that the city had been destroyed and that most of the citizens had been slaughtered.  
  
Nina continued to follow the phantom villagers through the castle ruins until the came to what may have once been the audience hall. Like most other parts of the castle, the room was in ruins, the roof had been destroyed, two of the walls were almost taken down and tapestries had been torn to shreds. The only thing that appeared intact was the vacant throne in the back of the room. There was one person addressing the crowd, dressed in royal purple and gold robes and wearing a golden circlet, presumably the king of Winlan. Most curious was that, unlike other Windians, he had black wings. Shock and wonder openly displayed upon her face, she approached the speaker. She paid no attention to what he was saying or to the response of the crowd; she only wanted to see that there was another with black wings. As she got a better look at his wings she discovered that not only were the feathers of his wings black, but they were scaled as well. She didn't have time to ponder this difference as someone in the crowd spoke, distracting he from that puzzling enigma.  
  
"It's your fault this happened!" One of them shouted.  
  
"Yeah! If Queen Nina was still alive this would never have happened!" Yelled another.  
  
"The king should never have allowed an inter-clan marriage. If he hadn't we would never have been cursed with a half-breed as a ruler."  
  
"His wings are a symbol of his mixed blood, that's why Suzaku, the bird god has forsaken us! It's the Curse of the Black Wings!"  
  
The cry of 'Black Wing Curse' was taken up by the mob; the only reaction of king of Winlan was to stiffen slightly at the insult. Nina watched the man who had first used the words 'Curse of the Black Wings', he was smiling malevolently and there was a peculiar glimmer in that man's eyes. Nina had seen eyes like that once before in the fanatical Habaruku, the head priest of the St-Evans religion.  
  
"Is this what you truly believe? That I am the cause of the destruction of my beloved Winlan?" The king asked sorrowfully. To Nina he looked very familiar as she studied his face.  
  
The crowd shouted and yelled, many raising their fists in anger. They were calling for his resignation and there were a few cries for his head as well as his crown. The king shook his head sadly and he slowly removed the golden circlet from his head.  
  
"Is this what you truly want?" The king asked again. The mob roared again demanding he abdicate the throne. "So be it! I, king Liam, first of that name, herby abdicate the throne." So saying, he thru his circlet on to the rubble whereupon it shattered, signifying the end of his reign. "The Kingdom of Winlan is no more." He said to the crowd before he left the room.  
  
Nina watched the crowd leave the destroyed palace, shocked at everything she had heard. This is where the Curse of the Black Wings had started, the product of a superstitious people who needed a scapegoat for this destruction. She sympathized with the king, whom was now going to feel the same enmity and fear that she had during her young life. As she thought upon the king, the landscape blurred and changed. She found herself in a guest-room in one of the remaining towers. It was well furnished, having a comfortable bed, a writing desk and several paintings on the walls. One piece in particular had caught her eye: a painting of a wedding. Two people before an altar, one she recognized as Queen Nina, with her white wings magnificent wedding dress and coronet. The other seemed to be a knight, for he was dressed in resplendent platinum armor. What was most odd about him was that he had blue hair and his face bore a great resemblance to Ryu. Perhaps this was the man from another clan that Queen Nina had told her about? Her musings were interrupted by the sudden appearance of King Liam, who had changed into traveler's clothes, and three others. One was an old man with a scholarly look about him, there was a young woman dressed in a fine white dress.  
  
Must have been the queen at the time. Nina thought.  
  
In the queen's arms, she held a young girl, no more than four years of age. The girl was intently watching king Liam who was in deep conversation with the old man.  
  
"Are you sure it's going to work Maechen?" The king asked of the old man.  
  
"I am sure of nothing sire, removing the draconic elements from her blood. It has never been done before, my lord." Maechen replied carefully.  
  
"I just don't want any of my family to be persecuted because they are related to me. And you can't call me 'sire' or 'your majesty' anymore." King Liam said as he turned to his wife and child.  
  
"Alright then, Liam. The potion I gave her will prevent the black wings from showing up in her bloodline again, at least, I am almost positive of it."  
  
"And you, beloved, what will you do?" The queen asked Liam.  
  
"I'll look for my father I suppose." He said as he took his daughter in his arms.  
  
"Are you going away, daddy?" The little girl asked.  
  
"Yes, but I want you to be strong while I'm gone, okay? I want you to promise me something: I want you to promise me you'll help rebuild Winlan, you are this country's future." He said as he handed the girl over to Maechen.  
  
The child fought back tears as she watched her father and mother walk up the stairs of the tower. Nina proceeded to follow them. This was perhaps the tallest tower, one that remained in the construction of the Windian castle. At the top Nina merely watched the two as they held each other. Liam then proceeded to walk up to the edge of the tower and, turning his back to the edge, he smiled at his wife. Nina then knew why he looked so familiar: he looked just like Ryu. Liam then took a step backwards, falling from the tower. Nina rushed to the edge, though there was nothing she could do. She watched in horror as Liam plummeted to the ground when, suddenly, his fall halted. Liam became engulfed in electricity and with a great explosion his form changed. He became a great serpentine dragon with feathered wings and he was easily as long as the tower was tall. The citizens, who had not seen the transformation, marveled at the sight and Nina laughed to herself to see the man they hated and feared was the future guardian of Windia, Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, who's likeness was carved into the arch above Windia's castle gate.  
  
As she laughed the landscape grew blurry and was eventually engulfed in darkness. Nina groggily opened her eyes, waking from a dream. She looked at her surroundings from her position on the floor. It was a non-descript tent, beige in color and no decoration. As with most Windians during their time of rest, her wings were wrapped around her like a protective cocoon. Someone had taken the liberty of covering her in a blanket and as she lifted it from herself she felt the cold crisp air on her skin. Pausing for a brief moment, she could here voices outside the tent, or rather one voice and Bleu laughing at something the other was saying.  
  
". So Karn carefully opened the vault while Bo and I stood at the ready, just in case the trap was a magical one. When we entered the room, we were all in for one hell of a shock. What do you think we found?" Said a male voice.  
  
"Come on don't leave me in suspense! What did you find?" Bleu asked eagerly.  
  
"The walls were staked with jars filled with. Eye-goo gel. Apparently it had been quite valuable at one point." The other said as Bleu burst out laughing.  
  
At that point Nina stepped out of the tent. It was night and Bleu and her companion were sitting by a fire. The landscape was a desert with pure white sand, but a forest could be seen not far from where they were. She looked at Bleu's companion and recognized him as the Wanderer who had visited the castle at Windia.  
  
"Hmmm? Oh glad to see you're awake Nina." The Wanderer said; Nina also recognized him as the man she had seen in the painting in her dream.  
  
*******  
  
Traveling to the factory town Kombinat was always difficult for the Urkans due to the fact that their city was surrounded on all sides by mountains. However, there was a small trail through the mountains, through which they could lead their caravans. It was a narrow path between the mountains and the ocean, in truth a rather dangerous route because there was a point one couldn't see where the ocean floor would drop and straying to far into the water could cause the loss of an entire caravan. Fortunately, it was nowhere near as dangerous as going over the western mountains and across some desert because the desert had monsters prowling on it night and day. Because of this the path was narrow and few dared to venture off into the water. It was this very path which was being obstructed by a lone figure, the lead wagon driver, of an Urkan caravan who came upon the figure brought his caravan to a halt, got off the wagon and approached the figure.  
  
"Sir? Is there something wrong? If you could move, sir, or you could come with us. We would be happy to bring you wherever you need to go, but you must move, sir." The wagon driver said as he cautiously approached the figure.  
  
The figure spread his arms suddenly, startling the wagon driver, and shouted as though he were an actor in a theater.  
  
"Friends, Urkans, countrymen, lend me your ears." The figure shouted. "Because quite frankly, mine are no longer what they used to be, fuhuhuhuhu."  
  
The figure the reached up to the side of his head and removed something and tossed it to the ground. It did appear to be a decaying ear. Taken aback, the wagon driver slowly began to move away, but was interrupted by the figure.  
  
"You wish to pass by this area? Fine, just so long as you can answer my riddle, but you must come closer." The figure motioned for the wagon driver to come closer.  
  
The wagon driver approached cautiously, fervently praying to the Goddess that this person would go away after he answered the riddle. When he was within a few feet, he could smell decay upon the figure.  
  
"Good, good fuhuhuhu. Here is my riddle: what is dead and dead and dead all over?"  
  
A death chill creeping up his spine, the wagon driver slowly backed away, but was not fast enough. The figure's arm shot out with the speed of a striking cobra, grabbed the wagon driver by the neck and effortlessly lifted him off the ground.  
  
"YOOOOUUUUUUU!!!" The figure laughed, crushing the wagon driver's throat. "Hihihahahahaha, it appears that while your amulet protects you from my corruption, Urkan, it does not protect you from a more direct assault, hehehehahahaha."  
  
The wagon driver's head lulled to one side, blood drooling from his mouth, after his neck was crushed. The figure casually tossed him against the mountain wall. The figure noticed his hand was drenched in the sweat of the wagon driver. He heard a small scream and saw that a frightened female wagon driver had exited the wagon, her eyes brimming with tears. He looked at the corpse of the wagon driver, at his hand and at the woman and began to laugh.  
  
"Blood, sweat and tears, huhuhuhuhu. It has been eons since I last felt this alive, which is ironic since I'm not, fufuhuhuhuhuhaha." He laughed maniacally as he walked towards the woman.  
  
"That is far more than enough!" A deep voice said from within the wagon.  
  
From the wagon emerged the heavily muscled, black as coal skinned, gargoyle- like guardian called Gatz. With a single leap, he jumped over the woman and landed in front of the figure, who didn't even flinch at the guardian's display.  
  
"Who are you? What do you want?" Gatz demanded of the figure.  
  
"Who am I? Oh, the shame of it, did not Myria tell you about the mighty Shax? Well, I suppose she could never have expected to see me again. As to what I want. I'm looking for a golden key with this symbol on it." The figure said as he drew the symbol for 'sky' in the sand.  
  
"You are an enemy of the Goddess?" Gatz asked. As he did so he summoned his two axes with a burst of flame. One of his hand axes was so large that it would take a normal man two hands two lift and yet he carried his with ease needing only one hand for each ax.  
  
"In truth my master views your mistress in somewhat less than glowing terms." Shax said, not rising from his drawing.  
  
Gatz merely nodded and, without warning, brought his axes down upon Shax. Gatz's axes would have sliced easily though Shax, save that he was no longer there. Hearing a scream behind him, Gatz turned to witness a ghastly sight: Shax was standing behind the woman and held her by the neck with his right hand, with his left he had pierced her body through the left part of her chest. His hand was sticking out of her chest, blood dripping from his arm, and he held her heart in his hand.  
  
"Be still thy beating heart!" Shax said as he removed his hand, still holding the heart, from the woman's body. "It wasn't very sporting of you to try and kill me like that." He continued as he threw the corpse and the heart over to where the male wagon driver's corpse lay.  
  
"You monster!" Gatz yelled as he leapt towards Shax, slicing, again, through nothing but air.  
  
"Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black?" Shax demanded from his perch on a precipice on the mountain. "Naughty, naughty guardian! I shall have to punish you heheheheh!" He said, sounding like a father scolding a child.  
  
Suddenly, Shax went stiff as a board, his head cocked to one side as though listening to some unseen person.  
  
"It appears I shall have to take my leave of you for the moment. And don't worry I shall clean up after my mess." Shax said as he vanished into the night air.  
  
Suddenly the earth shook and from it's depths, two creon, armored ant-like creatures, burrowed their way to the surface dragging the two corpses back into the dark earth, leaving Gatz alone with the caravan, its inhabitants still sleeping despite the commotion. Gatz began to pray that he could not strike Shax because he was not used to his guardian body yet and not because Shax was stronger than him. 


	6. Sobriquet of Souls

Chapter6: Sobriquet of Souls  
  
Four figures walked through the desert at night. Nina, Bleu, Jean and the Wanderer walked through the darkness to escape the searing heat of the sun, to conserve precious water and to keep Jean, the amphibious frog-man, from frying like some of the excellent meals he often cooked back in his home of Sima Fort. In truth, water was not as great a concern as it had been during the beginning of their grim night-march; they had been fortunate enough to find a river running down towards the ocean. As it was pure water, missing the salts that would have made it undrinkable, they needed not to worry about how long their water supply would last.  
  
After spending a few days with the Wanderer, Nina got over her apprehension of him, it also helped that he seemed to be good friends with Bleu. As she spent more time with him, she noticed that he bore a great resemblance to Ryu and so she felt she could trust him. However there were still things about him that were a mystery, a mystery Nina felt was necessary to explore.  
  
"You came from the same continent we did right? Why did you come all the way out here?" She had asked of him as they walked.  
  
"I came because I made a promise to her. I promised I would protect Ryu and his friends." He replied.  
  
The way he had said 'her' made Nina even more suspicious than she had previously been that he was indeed the consort of the queen Nina from four hundred years ago. However, that was something to look into some other time, she was more concerned about what he was doing here.  
  
"Protect us from what? The sandworms of the desert maybe?" She said, joking, trying to allay her own fears.  
  
The Wanderer smiled for a brief moment and the resemblance between him and Ryu shouted for the entire world to see. Nina again wondered if the Wanderer and Ryu might be related. Then he grew grim and the darkness of the night grew even more oppressive, despite the illumination of the stars and the moon.  
  
"Sandworms are nothing to laugh at, especially in a desert. They can grow large enough to swallow adult goats whole. But as to what I'm hoping to protect you from, one man threatens your lives. Ryu's life in particular." The Wanderer said.  
  
"A single man?" Nina asked, disbelieving. "We fought and defeated DeathEvan and he was a god, or close enough anyways. How can a single man pose any threat to Ryu?"  
  
"Shax is more than a man. He has a very powerful benefactor and he desires revenge against the dragon clan; the line of the destined child, Ryu, in particular." He responded.  
  
"He still doesn't sound any worse than anything else we've fought before. What makes him so dangerous?" She asked.  
  
"He has some of the Goddess Keys and he is looking for the others at the behest of his benefactor. The powers of the Goddess Keys is what makes him so dangerous, it's his search for the Keys that brought him here."  
  
"Goddess Keys?"  
  
"The Goddess Keys were used to imprison the Goddess of Desire Tyr. You can imagine the power of such objects if they were used to imprison a goddess. Alone they are very powerful, one can change night to day, another day to night, one can cause the very earth to tremble and another can cause time itself to go askew. If these Keys are brought together there's no telling what they can do, besides imprison gods, that is."  
  
"So why should he bother us then. It doesn't sound likely we'll see him."  
  
"Well he has a grudge against Ryu's family for one and Ryu, if he's like the other Destined Children before him, he'll head toward trouble like a moth to a flame. If Shax knows there is a Destined Child here, he'll make it his business to hunt him down, possibly even against his master's orders. Trust me, he might be more than even all of you can handle: Shax has been hunting dragons since before you were born. Hell, he was hunting dragons before I was born too." The Wanderer concluded.  
  
Nina considered this, the fact that there might be someone stronger than DeathEvan who was hunting Ryu worried her, but the fact that this Shax person was looking for the Goddess Keys made her worry even more. She was about to ask Bleu about when she felt a great rumbling beneath her. The ground in front of the party burst apart as an enormous sandworm emerged from the ground; it looked like it could easily swallow the four of them whole at once.  
  
"Told you sandworms were nothing to laugh at, though this one is easily ten times the size of the largest one I fought, the goat eater. I'll take Jean while you and Bleu ready your spells." The Wanderer said as he dashed by a startled Nina.  
  
The Wanderer grabbed Jean and headed to one side of the behemoth while Jean headed for the other. The two began attacking the monster and while not causing it any real damage, the pain was a distraction for the monster knew not where to attack and thus it would swerve from side to side attempting to discern which side was the irritant coming from. The distraction was enough for Bleu and Nina to start casting their spells.  
  
"Lords of thunder and lighting, bring down your hammer on the vile ones. BOLT X." Nina incanted her most powerful lightning spell.  
  
The sky above the worm was suddenly filed with dark clouds and a great blast of thunder cleaved the heavens and struck the worm. The thunder was so loud Nina thought for a brief moment that her eardrums would burst. However, the spell did no such damage to the worm. The only effect had, besides making the worm's head smoke was that the impact of the blast had knocked Jean to the ground. The Wanderer had been able to remain on his feet and continued to attack, distracting the monster further.  
  
"Shit! A thunder spell won't affect it; it just dispels the electricity into the ground. I guess I'll have to use one of my older spells on that thing." Bleu said as she slithered forward.  
  
"Angels of Light and Demons of Darkness, come together and strike down my enemies! NOVA X!" She incanted.  
  
A great flash of light exploded in the area, the noise so loud as to be beyond hearing. When Nina came to, and it could have been only a second or two after the blast, she saw that even the Wanderer had knocked off his feet and Jean had been rolled over so far as to have fallen in the nearby river. The worm rocked back and forth in immense pain, its skin was split in many places, oozing a white viscous substance.  
  
"Dammit, that wasn't enough. Guess I'll have to use that spell. I really wanted to avoid this. Hey Nina, pay attention, you're about to witness a spell that hasn't been seen in several millennia." Bleu said as she raised her cane before her.  
  
Watching her, the Wanderer's eyes widened as he began to run towards the river, diving for cover within its watery depths. Nina watched Bleu in utter fascination, this was going to be one hell of a spell and she intended to learn it. She calmed her mind and focused her spirit as her teachers had told her when observing spell casting. The spell was in two parts; the first was a simple containment spell that held the worm in place. A circle with intricate arcane designs surrounded the worm. As the monster waved around, trying to escape, it merely rebounded against the walls of the spell. Next came the second part of the spell; Bleu spread her arms and a second and third arcane circle appeared at the midsection and head of the monster. In a strong, clear and loud voice Bleu began to incant.  
  
"I call upon HwoShin of Fire, I call upon ToShin of Earth, I call upon SheiShin of Water, I call upon FunShin of Air Grant me strength. Thou of foul name and impure heart, False Apostle, hear now the judgment of heaven: LADON'S LAW"  
  
A column of light descended from the heavens piercing the circles and brightening the area so it looked lighter than day. The worm thrashed in pain and agony, but there was nowhere it could escape, it could not even find refuge in the blessed earth from the light that so hurt it. The monster did not even have a chance to scream as most of it dissolved in the light. All that remained of the monster was the hole it made and several chunks of flesh that had escaped destruction. Jean and the Wanderer approached, thoroughly waterlogged from their swim in the river. Jean examined the bits of worm as the Wanderer helped Bleu who looked ready to collapse.  
  
"Bleah. I. hope. I. never. EVER.do that.again." Bleu said trying to catch her breath. "Hope.you were...payin' attention kid.cause I ain't doin' an encore." She said to Nina.  
  
"Ze worm parts are in good condition. J'amerais avoir a little caramel sauce, it would go perfectly with zis worm." Jean said.  
  
Any reference to her once and only time tasting Jean's cuisine, his 'worm with caramel sauce' in particular made Nina want to vomit. Indeed, her face became quite pale and she clutched her stomach, praying the nausea would go away, trying not to think about 'worms with caramel sauce', 'cockroach with green onion salad' and the famous 'gold fly pudding'. The Wanderer noticed her apparent state of illness and smiled.  
  
"Actually, those are delicious delicacies. As long as you don't think about what you're eating." He laughed as he helped Bleu to the river to get her some water.  
  
I hope Ryu and the rest are having a better time. She thought.  
  
*******  
  
It was twilight when the Urkan caravan came upon Garr and Gaist. The people of the caravan were dispirited and afraid because of the attack that had taken place several nights ago. Gatz approached the two and Garr's eyes widened to see his friend so obviously different from when he had last seen him. Garr rose to greet his friend and marveled at the gargoyle's appearance.  
  
"You went through the Guardian Ceremony early?" Garr asked amazed.  
  
"Yeah. The Goddess herself told the Sudama apparently. And it seems it was necessary too. We had a little trouble on the road."  
  
"What kind of trouble?" Garr said, fear creeping into his voice disbelieving that one of the Goddess' chosen could have trouble against any opponent.  
  
Not wanting to expand on the subject, Gatz searched for something, any way to change the subject. He found his means of conversational escape as he spotted an unfamiliar young man on the ground, unconscious, next to the sleeping Gaist.  
  
"Who's that? I've never seen anyone like him around here before." Gatz said, pointing to the young man.  
  
"Him? We found him a couple of days ago. I don't think he knows who he is anymore than we do. He slips in and out of consciousness a lot, but from when he is awake, I can tell you the only thing he remembers is his name, which is Ryu." Garr replied, looking over to the young man.  
  
"Amnesia is it? Any idea why?" Gatz inquired.  
  
"Ideas? Well it might have been from the wound he had when we found him; Gaist is still recovering from healing the kid. Gaist doesn't think so though; he says the amnesia might be caused by some emotional trauma the kid suffered just before being wounded."  
  
"He sounds lucky to be alive. The Goddess must have something for him to do still." A musical, feminine voice said.  
  
A young woman approached them from the wagons. She had short-cropped red hair and luminous green eyes. She was slim, petite and had a youthful attractive face. Her pale skin, which was quite the oddity for a desert faring folk, seemed to glow in the moonlight.  
  
"Do you think so, Jasmine? He doesn't look very special." Gatz said.  
  
Jasmine approached Ryu and knelt beside him. She smiled at his careworn face as she stroked his blue hair. She looked at Garr and Gatz, who were staring at her quizzically.  
  
"I think I will stay with him. I feel the will of the Goddess moving me in this." She said as she continued to stroke Ryu's hair.  
  
'Heh. everything is the will of the Goddess if you ask an acolyte." Gaist said, stirring at the trio's conversation.  
  
"Gaist, you seem to be doing better. What do you think about all this?" Garr asked his friend.  
  
"About the kid? We should take him with the caravan and wait in the city of Dragonia and see if there is anyone who'll recognize him. Jasmine, I guess will have to stay with us, if she has her heart set on the kid Goddess intervention or no." Gaist mused. "If your also asking me about the 'trouble' Gatz had, I won't be able to tell you anything until I get more information."  
  
If Gatz had been surprised by the apparent fact that Gaist had heard his mention of the problems he had had on the road here, none of it registered on his face. Gatz sighed heavily as he thought about what to say. In truth he did not know anything about the enemy he had faced beyond the name and that its allegiance lay not with the Goddess. "There isn't much to tell, I found an enemy and couldn't defeat it. You're well versed in history, right Gaist? Have you heard of anyone by the name Shax?"  
  
"Shax? Can't say that I have. Why?" Gaist asked his eyes narrowing.  
  
Gatz declined comment at his change of subject. Meanwhile, Ryu began to stir on his makeshift bed. As Garr and Gaist had surmised Ryu could not remember anything from his past, the earliest memory he had was of being healed by Gaist. Through half open eyelids he looked up at the young woman stroking his hair. For a brief moment he saw a woren woman with red hair and green eyes. He couldn't shake the feeling of familiarity the image invoked.  
  
It's a shadow of a memory for she is beyond our grasp now. A voice in his mind said. The voice sounded familiar but he could not place it. The image disappeared and before him was a human girl he knew not at all.  
  
Your memories are full of pain. A woman's voice said, it was full of love and warmth, but it provoked no feelings of familiarity in Ryu. Let go of your past, I can provide you with eternal happiness if you will let me.  
  
"Who.are.you?" Ryu asked, a pain in his chest cutting off his speech.  
  
"Hmmmm? Did you say something?" Jasmine asked startled by Ryu's sudden movement. "My name is Jasmine, I'll be taking care of you for a while, Ryu. I hope we can be good friends."  
  
Ryu could not respond to Jasmine's greeting nor to either of the mysterious voices' words for he fell back into unconsciousness, into dreams he would not remember upon his next awakening.  
  
Author's Notes: I should have mentioned this before. The symbol for 'sky' that I was referring to in the previous chapter is the same as the symbol that is on Akuma's (from Street Fighter Alpha 3) back. It's a Japanese character meaning 'sky' or 'heaven'. Also the names of the elemental gods I used for the spell are Chinese words (I think) meaning the following: Hwo is fire, To is Earth, Shei is Water and Fun is wind. I'll be able to confirm this later. 


	7. Sonata of Souls

Chapter7: Sonata of Souls  
  
Days had gone by since Rand, Sten, Katt and Bow had landed on the Outer Continent and the group had slumped into a depressive state. Katt had yet to awaken but they were able to provide her with water and a little food. Supplies had gotten scarce, the sailors and their captain had left to find a city or port or something of that nature and Rand had barely said two words to anyone and merely tended to Katt. Sten, once he had awoken, tried to lighten the mood by playing cards with Rand; he always had an extra deck handy in case he could find some 'customers' to fleece of their gold. Despite his cheery attempts, Rand simply ignored Sten until at last Sten gave up and started to play solitaire to pass the time.  
  
He was playing his tenth game when he noticed the sand storm on the horizon, it was midday so he could see for quite a distance and the sandy clouds were easy to spot. While he was no judge of such matters, Sten estimated that the sand storm would be upon them at about sundown. He had never worried about shelter in his younger days as he had always managed to weasel his way into someone's home for a night and thus had no idea how to construct a shelter, let alone a shelter that could withstand a storm. Rand did not look like he was about to help in the construction of such a shelter; he merely stared off into the distance. That was when Sten saw what Rand saw: shadowed figures were running towards them. Rand stepped back and took up a defensive position near Katt. Sten took out his knives and a slightly more aggressive stance, though in truth he was frightened out of his mind. The situation reminded him of the Goonheim War: they were outnumbered, the enemy was unknown and they could not retreat. He had survived the war by faking his death in battle, but there was no way out of this situation.  
  
"I hope you're going to help me with this, Rand. Despite what the soldiers will tell you back in Highfort, I can't fight an army all by myself." He said nervously to his friend.  
  
"I won't shed anyone's blood, but I'll make damn sure that no one touches Katt." Rand growled.  
  
"I feel SOOOO much better." Sten said, his voice full of sarcasm.  
  
The approaching group had stopped a small distance away from Sten and merely stood there and watched them warily. The were all dressed in a desert burnoose, with a veil covering their faces, some of them wore goggles and others carried weapons resembling the canons of a ship though they were hand-held. One of the group, dressed in white approached Sten.  
  
"Drana ec y cduns uh dra runewuh. Lusa fedr ic ev oui fecr du ku du cyvado!" He said to Sten. Sten looked to Rand and saw that Rand was as confused as he; neither had ever heard such a language before. The one in white repeated his speech with a similar response. He then shook his head and turned to one of his companions and spoke again.  
  
"Vadlr dra kenm, fa tuh'd ryja desa vun dras du maynh uin myhkiyka. Yht caht vun dra tuk-syh, ra femm pa ypma du cruf dras fa sayh hu ryns." He said.  
  
One man dashed off and disappeared over a sand dune. Another walked straight passed Sten and was proceeding towards Katt when Rand stepped in front of him and glowered. The man stepped back startled and began speaking quickly in a manner that suggested he was trying to appease Rand.  
  
"Cunno, cunno! Bayla, E sayhd hu ryns!" He repeated over and over.  
  
Suddenly the other man returned with Bow in tow. He looked a little shocked, though not by the people so much as Rand's actions.  
  
"Hey, big guy! No need to get angry, these people mean us no harm!" He said as he placed a restraining hand on Rand.  
  
"How do you know? And where have you been?" Rand said, a little pissed off, though glad to see his friend.  
  
"I was hunting when they found me, they have been tracking us since we landed on this continent. Trust me Rand, if they had wanted to kill us, we would have been dead a long time before this." Bow explained in a frantic manner. "They can take us to a shelter, they can heal Katt, just trust me, okay?"  
  
Rand reluctantly stood back and let the man pass. This one signaled to some others who brought a stretcher for Katt. The leader nodded and offered his hand to Rand.  
  
"Trust." The man said in a heavily accented voice.  
  
Rand took the man's hand and shook it solidly. He felt that, for the time being, he could trust this person. The group, now with Rand, Sten, Bow and Katt, who was lying on the stretcher, began to make rapid progress towards the northeast, toward shelter and food, Sten fervently hoped.  
  
*******  
  
Gatz had known the storm would strike a long time before and he had planned to be long gone from the Outer Continent before it struck. However, things had changed and he had not left with the caravan on the Black Ship as he had originally planned. The first was that the boy, Ryu. He presented quite the enigma to Gatz, the firs of these mysteries being who the boy was and why he was here. The second part of the mystery was his miraculous recovery; the third day in Kombinat Ryu was completely recovered when he should have needed a month still to recover. Even though he seemed perfectly fine Jasmine still insisted he stay in bed for a while. That was another reason Gatz stayed behind, Ryu and Jasmine had become quite affectionate untoward each other and while Gatz had believed in love at first site, the timing was just far too coincidental for him. The final reason for him staying was nothing more than a feeling, in truth. Weeks ago when he had his Ceremony of Ascendance he came in touch with the Goddess and had, for a time been able to discern some of her desires in the waking world. However, that feeling was fading more and more each day. For the time being he could only follow his instincts.  
  
For Ryu things had not changed much; he could still remember nothing other than his name and on occasion he would catch a glimpse of something that appeared familiar, but the feeling would rapidly fade and quickly be forgotten. He also discovered that despite Jasmine's insistence he stay in bed and get some sleep, he never truly needed rest. He would sleep and dream, but he never felt tired when he went to sleep. He had stayed up several nights in a row as an experiment and he felt just as refreshed as when he had last gotten sleep. He knew this was a strange trait and began wondering if he may have other abilities that he was unaware of. Not knowing scared him, something about him may have been dangerous to those around him and he would not know it until it was too late. It was his hope that the son of the elder of the neighboring village of Dragonia, an elder, a community leader in his own right, would know who he was or would know someone who knew him. In the mean time, he was discussing Urkan life with Jasmine in a one of the warehouses that was being used as an inn.  
  
"What kind of name is Sudama?" Ryu asked as Jasmine began an explanation of the Urkan religion.  
  
"Sudama isn't a name." Jasmine giggled, she had a pretty laugh by Ryu's estimation. "It's more a title that he takes for his name when he becomes the high-priest and leader of the Urkan people."  
  
"Ok, what about the Goddess then. Does she have a name?"  
  
"The Goddess has a name but we are forbidden to say it. She is a beautiful deity who wants nothing but peace and prosperity for all the peoples of the world. It is the duty of the Urkan people to enlighten the rest of the world with her teachings."  
  
"Ugh... I don't know if I like this." Ryu said, making a disgusted face.  
  
"Why not? It is a great desire isn't it? To help the world, to want to bring peace to it?" She asked confusedly.  
  
"Well... It is possible that a deity could say that but really they just want to gain followers for a more diabolical purpose." Ryu said nonchalantly.  
  
"H-how can you say such a thing?" She said, plainly shocked.  
  
"I don't know... I just don't like the idea of forcing religion on others. That's all." Ryu said in an apologetic manner, defending his views.  
  
"We aren't forcing anything on anyone! I'll show you how the Urkan religion works and you can decide for yourself." She said haughtily.  
  
Just as Ryu was about to raise another argument a stranger walked in. He was dressed in a pair of knee-length trousers and a vest. He had long purple hair and dark eyes and a kind face.  
  
"I'm sorry, am I interrupting anything?" He asked jovially.  
  
"No, nothing. Can we help you?" Jasmine asked glad for a change of subject.  
  
"Actually, I was sent here to see if I could help you... If the kid sitting on the bed is Ryu."  
  
"Yes I am, that must mean you are Draigan. Can you help me?" Ryu asked eagerly.  
  
Draigan looked at Ryu, examined him. Then as if deciding something he leaned back against the wall and sighed, obviously thinking about what to tell the couple.  
  
"I don't know who you are. I know everyone who lives in my village and in the Skygarden above it and you're no one anybody would know... Sorry." He said sorrowfully.  
  
"No one at all?" Jasmine asked.  
  
"Well, there is someone who might, but when she doesn't want to be found she won't be found and this is one of those times. Again, I'm sorry." Draigan replied.  
  
Draigan then left, leaving Jasmine and Ryu to contemplate what to do next. They had both decided that it would be best, if Ryu had found no one he recognized, that he should return with Gatz, Gaist, Garr and Jasmine to the city of Urkan.  
  
*******  
  
The storm had struck mercilessly; even the dead would have had their skin flayed from their bones. It was, in fact, a legion of undead that were hiding in a limestone cave when the storm struck. Shax paced relentlessly back and forth in the cavern reciting theatrical dialog to a skull he held in his hand. The cave was mysteriously lit, so Shax never stumbled on anything as he paced. The legion was his captive audience in his little performance, though really the only thing that truly captivated this audience was death.  
  
"To behead or not to behead. That is the question." He intoned. "Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to do as we have done before and cut the bloody dragon-boy's head off, or to take arms, and legs, and ears, and other choice cuts off his body and by disjointing rend them."  
  
Here Shax paused making a variety of exaggerated gestures as to what he would do to his nemesis once he caught up to him. After calming down, he took a deep breath and began again.  
  
"To slay, to kill-to kill, perchance to maul. Aye, there's the fun stuff! For if I chop off a strategic portion of yon dragon-boy, might I not assure myself that he will be in extreme pain?" He said, as he turned to the 'crowd', finishing in a theatrical flourish.  
  
He looked the legion over; neither zombie groaned nor skeleton rattled. Shax frowned and shook his head.  
  
"Everybody's a critic." He muttered under his breath.  
  
Suddenly a pure white light entered the cavern and a ghostly woman appeared. She was blond-haired with blue eyes and she had three pairs of inverted angel wings and was inhumanly beautiful. Shax merely smiled as he recognized who had come to visit him.  
  
"Tyr! It has been such a long time. But I don't suppose you came to visit your loyal general, have you?"  
  
"I wish to speak to Evans, Shax." She said. Every time she spoke a word it sounded like there was an echo just before she spoke.  
  
Shax's body jerked suddenly, his limbs flailing as though he were a puppet dancing to a mad puppeteer's song. He suddenly became as stiff and as unmoving as the stiffs huddled in the cavern. He hovered a few feet off the ground and his neck seemed to stretch a few more millimeters more than appeared comfortable.  
  
"Hello mother, how are you?" The voice was deep and hollow, it sounded as though the voice was of death itself.  
  
"Evans, your follower has been killing my people!" She said calmly.  
  
"You cannot expect me to have that level of control over one zealot in my current condition. You know how unpredictable the clans are, it is why we try to bring order to the universe."  
  
"Never the less you must try to keep your people in line. Please, son, take care of yourself." She said as she faded away.  
  
Shax dropped to the ground, his limbs completely under his control again. He gasped, breathing deeply though he did not really need to.  
  
YOU HEARD HER WORM, SHOW A LITTLE MORE RESTRAINT. The powerful voice in his mind told him.  
  
"How much restraint shall I show, lord DeathEvans?"  
  
NEVER KILL IN FRONT OF A GUARDIAN, IN FACT AVOID THE GUARDIANS ALL TOGETHER, IF YOU CAN. I DON'T WANT MOTHER-DEAREST TO FIND OUT MY PLANS YET.  
  
"I don't understand her, what does she care that a few people were killed? She does get their souls into 'her afterlife', if I recall correctly."  
  
SHE IS A GODDESS OF 'GOOD', THAT IS HOW SHE PERCIEVES HERSELF. A 'GOOD' GOD WOULD NOT DO WHAT IS NECESSARY TO PRESERV THE ORDER AND PEACE OF THE WORLD. SHE WILL NOT 'BREAK A FEW EGGS TO MAKE HER OMLETT' AS IT WERE. SPEAKING WITH HER IS QUITE TIRESOME. I WILL LEAVE YOU FOR A TIME, BUT IF I FIND YOU NOT DOING AS I COMMANDED YOU, I WILL TEACH YOU THE TRUE MEANING OF PAIN. 


	8. Sorrowful Souls

Chapter8: Sorrowful Souls  
  
After days of travel along the river, Nina Bleu, Jean and the Wanderer had reached a destination of sorts; at the base of the mountains there was a large forest, from which sprang the river. What made this forest unusual, besides the fact that it was surrounded by desert and was lush and beautiful, was that both Nina and Jean found it familiar, even though neither of them had been there before.  
  
"Déjà vu." Jean had stated when Nina had expressed the sense of familiarity the forest evoked.  
  
Bleu had smiled knowingly and had led them deeper into the forest. In the center of the forest there was a small lake. In the center of the lake there grew an enormous tree, supported in the water by its large roots.  
  
"This is a forest of Yggdrasil, the Tree of Life. There are other trees just like it back on the Inner Continent. For example, the one you would be able to remember best would be the one in the Sea of Trees." Bleu commented.  
  
"It's so beautiful here, peaceful and quiet." Nina said in a hushed voice, so as not to disturb the peace she was commenting on.  
  
"It won't last forever, unfortunately." The Wanderer said solemnly. "The grass at the edge of the forest was dying, meaning that the desert is closing in on the heart of the forest. My best guess would be that in about a millennium or so this place will completely cease to exist. But, for the time being this will be an excellent place to stay and we can look for your friends from here. It should make things a lot easier."  
  
And so, they spent their time resting up and searching for the others. Bleu used her magic to conjure up spectral scouts in the shape of owls and hawks to see as far as she could, Jean transformed into his giant frog form and searched up and down the river, Nina would use the power of the forest to augment her own magic in an attempt to contact the others telepathically. Nina had become frustrated because of a particular blank space she had found. Normally, she could at the very least feel the mental residue in an area, the 'feel' of the minds that had once inhabited the area. However, in one particular area, it was as if there was a sort of 'blanket' covering the area, preventing Nina from seeing what was there. There were even minds she could feel at the very edge of her magic probe, but she feared to make contact because she had no idea who these minds were and they were to far away to make any real distinction between the minds of friend or foe. There was one other thing that made her nervous: the Wanderer would disappear for hours at a time in the forest and could not be found for that time. She worried for him because, despite his attitude, she could see a great sorrow in his eyes and she feared what he might do if he were left alone.  
  
She really wanted to speak to him about his past and his relation to Winlan's queen Nina after she had finished her last search for Ryu and the others. She went into the heart of the forest where the great tree lay. As she entered the heart of the forest she could here someone humming a solemn tune, it sounded like a requiem she had heard once in a church. She came to the lake where she found the Wanderer's armor and sword lying on the ground near the edge of the lake. To her this seemed quite suspicious and foolish to leave such valuable items behind, then again it was unlikely that there was anyone around who would take them anyways. She again heard the humming that she had heard when she entered the lake area but did not know where it came from; until she looked up into the Yggdrasil's branches; whereupon she saw the Wanderer sitting on one of the lower branches. He had apparently gone for a swim before he had sat up in the tree for his hair was slick with water and he wore only trousers. Nina wished to speak to him, so she cast a spell on herself to allow her to float up to the same branch as the Wanderer. The Wanderer merely observed her as she stepped from the air onto the branch. There followed a period of awkward silence as Nina tried to think of someway to bring up the subject of Winlan and their Nina or at the very least start some sort of conversation. The Wanderer merely smiled and turned his head to look out at the stars.  
  
"We used to stay up and watch the stars each night, you know. She would always fall asleep in my arms." He said.  
  
"Queen Nina?"  
  
"Yeah... Strange, but I never felt tired and never slept at all after I found my 'power'."  
  
It was odd that he should mention this, because she remembered Katt telling her once that Ryu rarely slept after they had returned from the final conflict with DeathEvan. She pushed the thought aside as it was not important to her at the moment.  
  
"You were married to Queen Nina 400 years ago?" She asked, trying to keep the astonishment out of her voice.  
  
The Wanderer raised an eyebrow at the question which was practically asking him his age and thus rude, was out of character for Nina. She realized this and embarrassedly put a hand over her mouth.  
  
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean... I... I..." She stammered, turning a little red in embarrassment.  
  
"Don't worry about it." The Wanderer laughed. "It was actually closer to 500 years than 400 years ago, but yes I married Nina."  
  
"Do all Dragon Clanners live as... " She started, turning beet red as she was reminded of her previous embarrassment.  
  
"No, those of the Dragon Clans live no longer than any other clan. Your Ryu and myself are very special cases because of our 'power'"  
  
"Ryu's power?"  
  
"Yes, I have Agni; the 'Body of Ladon'. Ryu has the 'Power of Ladon', Anfini."  
  
Nina said nothing to this; she merely stared out over the forest, trying to look everywhere but at the Wanderer. She had had something else she wanted to ask him but after her prior misstep she was a little too embarrassed to ask if Ryu would be as old as the Wanderer was. The Wanderer recognized the action and guessed what she was thinking and thus prevented her from having to ask another embarrassing question.  
  
"I have aged because of my sorrow. The years have worn me out because I lost Nina, because she died and there was nothing I could do to prevent it." He said bitterly.  
  
"But surely you must have know that she would age, you must have been able to accept that." Nina said as she approached him.  
  
"If she had died of old age I might have been able to accept it, but she didn't. She had been infected with the same disease her father did, the same that your father had. I went out and found the elixir that would save her, but it was too late when I came back. I had left Winlan to my son and just traveled and that's what I have been doing since."  
  
"I-I'm so sorry." She replied.  
  
"Don't be, it happened a long time ago. But tell me, why are you so concerned about Ryu? Do you love him so much that you cannot let him go, even if he is married to another woman?" He asked as he stood up, keeping perfectly balanced on the branch of the Yggdrasil tree.  
  
"W-what makes you think I love him?" Nina said turning away.  
  
"The way you are so concerned with him and the fact that your eyes take on a certain light whenever he is mentioned kind of tipped me off. But, other than that I just asked Bleu, she loves to gossip you know."  
  
Nina blushed at the fact that her feelings were so obvious, she had always tried to keep them secret, safe. She also felt another emotion as she looked out into the forest, away from the Wanderer: sorrow. She had kept her love for Ryu buried in her heart since she had seen him fight Tiga for Katt. On that day she had known that his heart lay with Katt and not with her. It hurt, but she kept her feelings to herself so as not to interfere with the mission or their friendship. Of course, keeping her feelings to herself had one notable effect: much like a river that has been bottled up, her feelings would eventually either violently burst out or overflow, either way her emotions would drown her.  
  
Nina began to cry softly her heart torn asunder a she thought about Ryu. The whole situation to her was depressing: first Ryu impresses Katt and won her heart forever by fighting Tiga, then he marries her and they have a child. She had been avoiding them and her feelings about them; she had secretly hoped that this adventure would have mended her friendship with them, though in truth they had no idea of her feelings. Things had seemed to be going well at first, it was just like old times, then on the ocean the storm had ripped the ship apart and she had lost Ryu, Katt, Rand, Sten and Bow. She continued to sob softly. She felt the Wanderer's strong hands on her shoulders and she turned and just let him hold her as she cried. It reminded her of the last time her own father held her like that; she felt safe and protected.  
  
"I-it isn't f-fair!" She sobbed. "I love him, why can't he be with me? Is this fate? Had I met him sooner he might have fallen in love with me! Is this destiny?"  
  
"Shhh, shh, little one. I understand; I know what it is like to not be aloud to be with the one you love. In Winlan there used to be laws forbidding inter-clan marriages." The Wanderer said as he held Nina. "As for if it is destiny, I don't believe it is. 'Destiny' and 'Fate' are words people use to avoid responsibility, saying it isn't their fault. I have lived a long time and I have always felt that regardless of my actions or the situation there was always another possibility another choice I could have made. Things turned out the way they did because that's the way they turned out. There is no 'omnipotent being' guiding our every action; Ladon wants us to make our own decisions and allows us to shape events that happen. We are cursed and blessed by having free will and by not having our lives predetermined."  
  
"Wh-who are you?" Nina asked, finally getting to the point of the conversation, her heart soothed, the pain of heartache dissipating.  
  
"My name is Ryu Heir Winlan. I am the father of Liam, last king of Winlan and Mina, protector and leader of the Dragon Clan 500 years ago. I am your ancestor, Nina, and Ryu's ancestor, though the blood relation between you is too distant to make a difference." He said as he stepped back from her. He slipped an amulet from around his neck, Nina was surprised she hadn't noticed it earlier. "As your ancestor, I feel I should give you this, Please take good care of it."  
  
He took her hands in his and gently placed the amulet in her palm and closed her fingers over the amulet. He then turned and, smiling that oh-so- confident smile, the same as Ryu's and as Liam's when she had seen him in her dream, he dove of the Yggdrasil's branch and into the lake below.  
  
Nina looked at the object she held in her palm and saw that it was a small teardrop-shaped glass in a gold setting. Most interesting about the piece was that encased in the piece of glass was a single white feather with a brown tip.  
  
The next day the group gathered on the edge of the forest to say goodbye to Ryu the Wanderer. He spoke not a word as he kissed Bleu on the cheek or shook hands with Jean. When he came to Nina, however, he leaned in close, kissed her on the cheek and whispered in her ear: "I love as though you were my own daughter, take care of yourself."  
  
"He knows this is the end." Bleu said solemnly.  
  
"La fin, madame Bleu? Of what?" Jean asked.  
  
"Of his life, he knows he won't live through this adventure." She replied sadly.  
  
"What!! How do you know?" Nina asked, shocked.  
  
"He gave you his amulet. His wife gave that amulet to him on his wedding day. He holds nothing more dearly to him. For him to give up something so precious would mean he is going to die. Any man who knows he is going to die gives his things away to friends and family so they don't end up in the hands of people who won't appreciate them." Bleu said.  
  
Nina was silent at this. She caressed the amulet given to her and watched the continuously shrinking figure of the Wanderer retreat into the distance.  
  
***********  
  
The empty Urkan caravan had left the city of Dragonia at approximately dawn and had been traveling all day. Ryu merely sat at the head of the caravan watching the beasts of burden drag the wagons along the mountain road. The mountain road was by far the safest way to return to the Urkan city, as there were usually no passengers thus making the trip far quicker and far less dangerous than had there been a great number of people in the wagons.  
  
The current position of the caravan allowed for a spectacular view of the ocean and the setting sun. For a reason that escaped him, Ryu liked watching the sunset, even though it gave him a sorrowful feeling. He did not tell anyone about his feelings, especially not Jasmine for he felt it of utmost importance that he do nothing to upset her. He always watched the sunsets alone, hoping to trigger a memory, to see something familiar and discover something about himself. He was not alone this night, though he did not know it. Gaist came up silently merely watching Ryu.  
  
"Beautiful, isn't it?" Gaist said breaking the silence.  
  
Ryu looked at the landscape once more. It was indeed beautiful, the mountains and how the ocean took on a gold color as the sun was setting.  
  
"Yeah it is." Ryu replied.  
  
"Shouldn't you be out here with Jasmine? It would be a great romantic opportunity." Gaist smirked though not in a malevolent way.  
  
"I don't want to bother her."  
  
"You sure? I could go get her right now, if you want."  
  
"That's alright, I would prefer to be left alone. But you aren't going to leave me alone are you? You came to see me for a reason." Ryu said as he turned towards Gaist.  
  
"You're right. I found something that had washed up on shore just before we left for Dragonia... I thought that it might belong to you. I just never found the right time to give it to you. Jasmine's been watching over you like a hawk." Gaist laughed as he handed over an amulet to Ryu.  
  
The amulet was made in the shape of a golden dragon wrapped around a tear shaped jewel that had a milky-white color. As soon as Ryu's hand touched the amulet, the jewel change color to a light blue. Gaist looked in astonishment and whistled softly.  
  
"Well I guess that proves it's yours then huh?" Gaist said.  
  
The two continued to watch the sunset. As the sun dipped beneath the horizon the sky deepened to red and gold colors and then, when the sun was no longer visible, there was a flash of green. It made for a spectacular sight. Gaist turned to Ryu and suddenly had a quizzical look on his face.  
  
"Why are you crying?" Gaist asked.  
  
Ryu put a hand to his face and felt a wetness that showed he was indeed crying, but as to why he could not fathom. He stated as much to Gaist, who then pondered the matter.  
  
"Hmm... Even though you don't consciously remember who you are, maybe somewhere deep inside you do remember something and the sunset triggers it." Gaist said.  
  
Ryu said nothing as he looked out over the mountains and the ocean, caressing the amulet. Deep inside he couldn't help feeling that something was missing during the sunset.  
  
Authors Notes: Many of you are probably thinking that Ryu the Wanderer's statements are incredibly ironic. Well I suppose they might not be depending on how you look at it. As the Wanderer (in case you hadn't figured it out yet) is the Ryu from the first Breath of Fire game his actions were controlled by us gamers. That is not entirely true. The programmers created him and incorporated his personality into the game. If we, the gamers, wanted the plot to advance we would have to follow what he would do. So in a sense he was the one controlling our actions. Think on that!  
  
To Zypher: Regrettably I cannot include you in this story. The way I am going to write it, the way I see it would not permit me to add another guardian. However, I am going to write another Breath of Fire story after this. If you do want to be in a story of mine please send me a complete character profile (name, age, gender, physical appearance, psychological profile, preferred style of combat, favorite weapon etc.) via e-mail, my e-mail is on my profile if you were wondering. I will give due credit for any characters I am given. You should be warned however, that you would be giving me god-like power over your creation. 


	9. Hidden Souls

Chapter9: Hidden Souls

The caravan had at long last arrived at its destination, the City of the Urkan people. The city was enclosed in walls of thick stone, and guards were at every tower. The reappearance of the Guardian Gatz as well as the stranger, Ryu, caught the attention of many. In the case of Gatz it was because he should not have returned, he should be with the people on the Black Ship. In the case of Ryu it was because they had never seen anyone who had not been born in the Urkan city. Ryu had merely observed his surroundings, looking at the towers the people the buildings. He noticed that the houses were all uniform in shape and size, all cubes of beige stone. Except for the well in the center of town, there was another oddity that caught Ryu's, the pyramid structure at the back of the city. It towered above the other structures and dominated the view; it would be the first thing to draw anyone's attention as they entered the city. 

As Ryu looked at the people around the city; social concepts came easy to him, it was only his personal memories that were not accessible to him. He could recognize the to classes of people: the warriors and the citizens. In truth the citizens appeared to be acolytes of some kind, all of them wore long, beige-colored robes, the same as Jasmine was wearing. The warriors wore the beige kilts and vests, the same as those of Garr and Gaist. He also noticed that there were no gargoyles like Gatz. Ryu had assumed that Gatz was of another species living, co-existing with other humans like Gaist and Garr, but since there was no one else like Gatz, it had to be something else. 

"So where do I sign up to be a soldier?" Ryu asked. 

"You don't." Garr replied. 

"Huh??" 

"Everyone starts at the bottom as an acolyte. None of us 'sign up' for anything. We're all chosen for our positions, called by the Goddess you could say." Garr said. 

"Which means you'll start at the bottom like everyone else. Pray you have to do scribe work, because cleaning is a real pain in the ass. Pardon my language, Jasmine." Gaist replied, smirking. 

"Surely it isn't that bad?" Jasmine said worriedly. "He is only trying to scare Ryu, isn't he Garr, he's joking right?" 

"Oh no I'm not. I remember when I was an acolyte; I had to scrub each centimeter of the temple with a toothbrush. The Sudama back then was real brutal, a true slave-driver." Gaist said patting Ryu and Jasmine on the back. 

"Surely not a toothbrush!" Garr snorted, unconvinced. 

Jasmine clung to Ryu in a protective manner, as though she wished him to protect her and for her to protect him at the same time. Ryu made neither protest nor said anything about the debate, he placed his arm around Jasmine's shoulder and had the strange sensation that the action itself was right but the person he was holding was wrong. 

"I'm serious. You don't know anything about it because you had scribe duty and Jasmine doesn't know about it because she was cast as the temple singer from the first. You had nothing to do with... Oh look the welcome wagon." Gaist said joyously. 

A group approached them at the head was an old man. He had a white beard and was bald; his attire was different that the rest of the people in the fact that it was a white robe with gold trim. Three others dressed in similar robes to the Sudama followed him; they wore masks that covered their faces and they made Ryu very nervous. He felt as if those three were staring at him and peeling away layer after layer of his flesh until they could see his very soul. His reverie was interrupted by a brunet who jumped into Gaist's arms, obviously his girlfriend, Miranda, whom Gaist had mentioned several times. 

"Who are these guys?" Ryu asked Garr, referring to the masked ones, seeing as Gaist was busy. 

"The large one with the bull mask is Buliarus, the thin wiry one with the snake mask is Serpentarius and the one with the bird mask is Kilanirax; they're the three High-priests of the goddess, they communicate directly with Her and they are also the only ones who will stay here while the rest of us head towards the Inner Continent." Garr replied. 

"Why do I get the feeling you'd rather be here with them instead of leaving?" Ryu asked Garr mockingly. 

Before Garr had a chance to respond, Jasmine dragged Ryu forward to meet the Sudama. The Sudama was an ancient man with squinting eyes; Ryu had the impression that the old man would break if he so much as shook his hand. 

"So this our young cast-away." The Sudama said upon seeing Ryu. His voice was old, but still very powerful, as though he had the authority of heaven in his voice. 

"How did you know, elder?" Jasmine asked. 

"The Goddess Herself told me we would receive a very special guest. She asked me to make him an acolyte. She said that She had some special plans for him. We will have to wait and see what she means by that." He replied. 

"Can he stay at my apartment, Sudama? He knows no one else an-and I feel the Goddess compels me in this matter." Jasmine asked tentatively. 

"We favor thisssss." Serpentarius said for the first time. 

"If you feel the Goddess compels you, then we cannot object." Kilanirax said. 

"It is the Goddess' will." Buliarus said. 

"Well then, if they say it is okay then I agree to it as well. Everyone may return to your business." The Sudama said as he turned to walk toward the temple, the three masked ones following him. 

Gaist said nothing as he departed with his girlfriend; Garr mumbled something about hading to the tower for guard duty and Gatz merely flew off, proving his wings were functional. He landed on the top of the tower and kept a silent vigil over the city. As for Jasmine and Ryu, she showed him to her apartment, a small block of a house with several rooms. 

"I'll cook us up something nice, err at least that's what I hope to do anyway." Jasmine said as they entered the kitchen. 

"You can't cook?" Ryu asked. 

Jasmine shook her head, but Ryu was no longer paying attention. The words he had said, he had said them before and it triggered a memory. 

*Memory* 

"You can't cook?" Ryu asked Katt. 

"Hey you know me, I'm more of a boar-roasted-over-an-open-fire kinda gal than a homemaker. I usually used the money I won from tournaments to eat out." The memory Katt replied. 

"Hmmm. I guess I'll make us something then." The memory Ryu said as he proceeded to the kitchen looking for various ingredients. 

"You know how to cook?" The memory Katt asked incredulously. 

"Well, I've lived with Bow most of my life and lets just say he doesn't recognize the joy of cooking. I've had to teach myself, but yeah, it's a useful skill. Say, have you ever tried curry?" The memory Ryu asked. 

*memory ends* 

The memory faded away as he saw that Jasmine was waving her hand in front of his face. 

"Hello Ryu? Anybody home?" She asked. 

Ryu blinked, trying to remember what he was doing, but nothing came to him. He must have blanked out for a moment or so he figured. 

"Hey tell you what, I'll cook something tonight okay? It'll be a poor payment for all that you've done for me but I'd like to do this." He said pushing his momentary confusion aside. "Say, have you ever tried curry?" 

"Ummm. No I haven't. Can you cook?" She asked him as he began to gather ingredients. 

"Well, there's only one way to find out." He replied jovially and set off to cooking. 

*********** 

There was another caravan traveling the desert that night and they were related to the Urkan people, though Sten, Bow and Rand did not know it at the time. It was not really a caravan so much as a moving village; the wagons were small houses complete with rooms. Most of the men traveled outside the wagons, as they were moving slowly enough, they wore white cloaks and face masks to protect themselves from the desert heat and the sand. Rand stayed with Katt in a sort of hospital wagon, as she was cared for. The strange part was that there seemed to be nothing wrong with her, other than a broken leg of course, but that was nearly completely healed thanks to the doctor's ministrations. The doctor had an explanation, but as he could not speak the language, the best they got was a heavily accented 'her soul walks the halls of death' from the leader, the only one who even remotely knew something about their language. 

Sten had been keeping himself busy with his cards. He would have started many a game of poker, but the people here didn't use zenny and they couldn't understand him anyways. After a long and drawn out conversation with the leader, Sten was able to piece a bit of the history of these people: a long time ago, centuries probably, these people lived in a machine city called Caer Xhan, protected by some great deity. Then war came, the people fought amongst themselves instead of their enemy. The people were about to be destroyed, when their deity removed them from the city and sent them to the edge of the continent, lost and alone, and then the deity brought holy destruction upon their enemies. The people began to travel to return to their lost home, to their lost deity, in a desperate attempt to regain their glory and comfort of the technology they had. The large populace traveled in a general northeastern direction, because of the position of the stars and there were many astrologists who knew how to navigate their way to the city. However, after many years of searching, because it takes lots of time to move lots of people, they had arrived before the Mountain Wall, the barrier between the Desert of Death and the rest of the world and it was there that the people split up. Apparently, it was because someone had a dream, given to him by their deity telling him they must stay here and wait for great events, for Her to return. This one convinced a majority of the people to remain in the valley near the Mountain Wall, though the remainder pressed forward, the ancestors of the current group of desert wanderers. They still to this day continued to search for their lost home, their ancestors had been caught in a sandstorm and gotten lost, they were now on the verge of going home again. 

*********** 

Deep within the bowels of the earth beneath the city of Gate, was the gate to hell, Infinity. In its deepest chambers, there was a room called the Gates of Hell. The walls seemed alive, made of flesh, pulsating as though a heart pumped blood through the walls. Every so often the walls would shift, with a muscle-like contraction, there could be seen a face in the walls silently screaming. From the entrance there was a single stone bridge leading to the platform in the center of the room, it did not seem to have any connection to the walls and the platform itself hung over a bottomless abyss. In the center of the platform was a throne of bone and upon that throne there sat an old weak figure. A wasted, ancient old man whose time seemed to be nearly upon him. Indeed, DaethEvan was weak from his battle with Ryu, even two years after the fact his full strength had not returned to him. That had not, however, prevented him from carrying out his plans, but it seemed as though he needed to take a direct hand in matters. 

It seemed he needed to 'seed' his conciousness into a mortal host, something he had not done in millennia. He disliked the idea, sharing a body with a mortal mind and a mad one besides, but it was necessary in this case. The throne of bone shifted and changed as he willed it into a suitable place for his immortal body to rest, in this instance it appeared to be a coffin. He lay in the bed he had made and began to will his spirit and conciousness into his chosen mortal vessel, that of his mad pawn Shax. 

Authors Note's: This is not the only story I have, check out my other stories at www.icybrian.com/fanfic/ under the author name Artificer Urza and please tell me what you think.


	10. Soul Memories

Chapter10: Soul memories  
  
Ryu had hoped that now that he was no longer traveling, that he had settled down, he would stop having dreams he could not remember. He knew he must dream of his past, which was why he could never remember what the dreams were. He also knew that the subject of these dreams caused either fear, pain or sorrow and thus he was rather sure that it would be best if he didn't remember who he was. At least that's what he kept telling himself and yet the way his mind kept saying 'maybe it would be best if I didn't remember' felt as though it wasn't really his mind saying, but rather someone else's thoughts using his voice.  
  
Ryu's hopes for a dreamless sleep were in vain. Again, that night he dreamt of his past and as always he could remember who he was, at least vaguely. He was incapable of controlling his actions in the dream as he watched, in a third person way, the events in the dream. He was a spectator of a play, which he knew would end sadly; Ryu really hated sad theater.  
  
He dreamed of the voyage on the ship, the Nina. He had been enjoying the trip; it was rather eventless and dull. For once, there were no monsters to fight, no world in imminent peril and he could enjoy the sunsets with Katt. Captain Trask had told them that they might be able to see the Outer Continent the next day because of how the currents had suddenly changed, but there was no real way to be sure.  
  
Ryu had been watching the sky when the storm struck. It was strange, there was no warning; one moment the skies were clear, it was a beautiful day, the next moment the skies grew dark, rain poured down hard and the winds blew so hard that two crew members were flung overboard by the ferocity of the wind. Within heartbeats of the loss of those two sailors the entire crew, day-watch and night watch, were on the deck, struggling to keep the ship from capsizing. Even Ryu's friends helped out; Rand, using his strength to secure the lines, Sten had climbed the mast and served as lookout, Bow was helping with the wheel and Bleu and Nina were using their magic in an attempt to protect the ship. Of course, the rain still came down and thoroughly drenched everyone on the ship. Katt was completely soaked when she joined Ryu and she was not pleased at all.  
  
"I don't care how long it would take, I don't care how bad his breath is and I don't care that there wouldn't be any privacy; next time, we're taking the whale." She yelled at Ryu, trying to make herself heard over the wind and rain.  
  
Ryu merely smiled as he secured another rope. It had always been something a joke between the two: Ryu felt that Grandpa the whale was a terrible mode of transportation because of his bad breath and Katt contended that fish- breath was a great smell.  
  
"Oh I don't know. The way the rain has matted your fur against your body, allowing me to see every one of your curves makes this way of traveling VERY appealing, I think." Ryu replied as he made a play of leering at Katt.  
  
Katt smacked him playfully. "Imminent danger now, libido later." She said.  
  
Lightning flashed, as the winds seemed to grow worse. The waves that resulted carried the ship high, almost tossing the ship to the next wave in a giant game of catch. The weather became far worse as tornadoes descended from the sky and dissipated just before they touched the water.  
  
"If those hit the water, we're dead." Captain Trask said to Bow, as they both struggled with the wheel.  
  
Sure enough, one of the cyclones descended, striking the water, causing immense waves, which nearly capsized the ship. The strain on the magical shielding that Nina and Bleu had created, that Nina fell to her knees nearly collapsing from the pressure inflicted upon the shield.  
  
At that precise moment lightning struck one the masts of the ship, causing it to fall. The impact shook the ship, many sailors lost their footing and fell to the deck, and some of them fell overboard. Ryu was slammed against the railing, catching Katt in his arms. He looked on deck and saw Sten lying on his back, he neither moved nor did he appear to be breathing. Rand rushed to Sten's side and began to chant, trying to save his life; a dangerous move, for Sten's back was broken and using magic to heal broken bones more times did more harm than good.  
  
Another wave struck the ship as Ryu and Katt were standing up. Ryu was slammed against the railing again, but Katt was flung overboard. With nigh inhuman speed, Ryu reacted grabbing Katt's hand with his left hand, using his right to brace himself against the railing and hopefully giving him the leverage he needed to bring Katt back up. Ryu found, however, that the more he pulled, the further she was slipping out of his fingers. The purple gauntlet she wore was coming off, slick as it was with water. Finally, the gauntlet came off and Katt fell towards the water below. Ryu desperately grabbed for her with his right hand, missing her by mere centimeters. He watched on in horror as Katt plunged into the water below and everything seemed lost in his eyes. He heard a splintering crack from behind him as the second mast was hit; yet, he cared not. He heard shouts of warning and he turned to watch as the broken mast fell towards him, but it didn't matter to him; he had just lost that which was most precious to him, his life no longer seemed worth living. Just as he felt the mast hit him and the darkness take him, he woke up.  
  
Ryu woke in the bed in which he had been sleeping in the Urkan village. He had awoken suddenly and was gasping for breath, sweating in fear. Jasmine was by his side, a fearful, worrisome expression on her face.  
  
"Are you all right?" She asked, concerned.  
  
"It's okay, I'm fine. It was just a dream, can't hurt me now." He said as he held her, as he felt better just holding her.  
  
For the life of him, Ryu could not remember what he had dreamed, or why it made him feel such sorrow.  
  
********  
  
Katt walked along a forest path. She could not remember how long she had been walking or how she had appeared here, only that she had appeared here shortly after she had been thrown overboard. Had she been paying attention to her surrounding's she would have thought it strange; the forest, the flowers, everything seemed blurred like a semi-abstract painting where one could distinguish objects and scenery but the artist had smudged everything on purpose. Had Katt been paying attention she would have noticed that she herself looked different, casting out a golden aura and her appearance was that of an idealized, perfect version of herself that even Bleu would have had a hard time competing with in terms of beauty and attractiveness. However, she was not paying attention, she was listening to a bird landing on a branch two kilometers away, she smelled a buck taking a drink by a pond in the distance and she was seeing a bug land on a flower in a clearing nearly a kilometer away. Katt thought it was strange, everything that moved whether they were insects, animals or people seemed to stand out in the landscape here, in absolute contrast to the landscape itself. Moreover, through it all she continued to walk.  
  
Then she saw it: a flash of red fur just on the edge of her vision. It made no sound and had no scent, so all Katt could do was track it's movement with her eyes. She chased the red blur into a clearing where she beheld her prey's identity. He stood at ten feet tall, with red fur and a red mane that coursed down his back and ended in a tail. He was heavily muscled with a visage that appeared to combine both lupine and feline features. Leather bands bound tresses of red hair, which framed his face, and he wore deerskin pants, a custom once used by the woren culture. Katt recognized him as the god Kihlrah, the lord of the hunt.  
  
Katt and the god just stood and stared at each other, sizing each other up. Katt had heard about this god from her parents when she was very small; she was never very big on religion, but she prayed to this god each night and once before each tournament battle.  
  
Suddenly the god turned and ran off into the woods, pausing just long enough to motion for Katt to follow him. Wasting no time, Katt followed him into the depths of the forest. She had much trouble keeping up with him; then again, he was a god after all.  
  
Katt followed Kihlrah as best she could, suddenly coming to a clearing. She saw Kihlrah on an outcropping of rock in the clearing. But what she saw in the middle of the clearing, sitting by a pond, shocked her and filled her with longing: her parents.  
  
Katt rushed into their arms, they shocked though not entirely surprised to see her. They appeared to have been waiting for her, for they registered no shock and held her close. Katt for her own part never questioned why her deceased parents were here, at least not for the first few minutes anyways, then she though about how she could be here with her parents and it made her ask the inevitable question. She looked up at her mother and father from her position in their embrace and asked.  
  
"Am I dead?" Her voice sounded small and alone when she asked.  
  
Her parents let her go and Katt sat up. They did not look concerned, nor did they seem surprised at the question. The y looked at each other out of the corner of their eyes, as though deciding who was going to answer her.  
  
"You aren't dead." Her father said.  
  
"You're not alive either, your soul is separated from your body." Her mother said.  
  
Katt took this all in, she had seen much in her life so this was not as hard to believe as some of what she had experienced.  
  
"We were worried about you at first, all those years ago. We didn't think you would be able to escape the hunters." Katt's father said.  
  
"Truth is I didn't." Katt said, averting her eyes.  
  
"Then what happened?" Her mother asked. "We only know you survived because Lord Kihlrah told us."  
  
"Well, this is how it happened..."  
  
********  
  
As Katt began to retell the story, it seemed to her that she could see what was happening as she told it; as though she could see the people and events that happened that day.  
  
She had been four at the time; her parents and herself had been running from bounty hunters who were after their fur. At that time worens, who were rare in that area, had been hunted for high price because of their fighting skills and their fur. A band of four hunters had found them at their home and had been hunting them for days, never giving the impression of giving up. The leader was cold and cruel, cloaked in the fur of past prey; he wielded a scimitar. There were two swordsmen in the group and one teenager, obviously hoping to gain some instant fame from this kill. The last was not without some skill, for he wielded a heavy crossbow, a weapon requiring both strength and skill to use effectively.  
  
"If any of you damage the cats' pelt, I'll take it out of your hides." The leader said coldly to his men. "And if I find so much as a bruise upon the girl I'll kill the man who made the mark. August wants the child alive."  
  
His cohorts grunted in acknowledgment. It was understood that the Gamesmaster August of Coursair was paying high price for a woren child alive and undamaged, the fur and subsequent zenny gained from the selling of the fur of the adults was a bonus.  
  
Just passed a forest, Katt and her folks stopped. Her father turned and, brandishing his daggers, charged at the hunters. The movement caught the hunters by surprise allowing Katt's father to kill one of the hunters. Immediately after he began to assault the second swordsman, striking with furious blows, but not penetrating the hunter's defenses. The hunter for his own part had a much harder time of it; he had to kill the woren male without inflicting any other damage on his fur. The other two hunters stood back and watched, Katt's mother held her defensively, but they still watched Katt's father fight.  
  
Suddenly, the child Katt felt her mother's body shudder. She looked up to see a crossbow bolt protruding from her neck, just above her collarbones. Her mother slumped to the ground beside the child-Katt, who looked at the corpse in horror.  
  
Katt's father heard her cry out and turned to see his wife on the ground, dead, his child trying desperately to wake her up. It was that one moment of inattention that cost him his life. The hunter he was fighting slipped beneath his guard and stabbed upward so that his sword went behind the woren's ribs, killing him.  
  
The three hunters then converged on the infant Katt, preparing to capture her, when a shadow fell over them. The Wanderer stood his back to the setting sun, fury and hate in his eyes directed at the hunters.  
  
"That is far more than enough!" He growled.  
  
"Oh, is it old man? And what can you do about it?" The leader of the hunters asked.  
  
The Wanderer made no response as he charged the three. The remaining swordsman engaged him as the other two retreated a bit. The hunter attempted to cut the Wanderer down with one slash, but the Wanderer easily dodged the blow. Repeatedly the hunter slashed and repeatedly the Wanderer dodged making the hunter appear slow and clumsy.  
  
The Wanderer grabbed the hunter's arm as he brought his sword down. With a simple twist, the Wanderer disarmed the swordsman and then proceeded to knock him unconscious with a blow to the head.  
  
The youth with the crossbow took aim and fired a bolt at the Wanderer, but the Wanderer merely reached out and plucked the bolt out of the air as it was about hit.  
  
"I would advise you never to try that again." The Wanderer said his eyes cold.  
  
The youth, frightened, dropped his crossbow and ran, not willing to risk his life for all the zenny in the world.  
  
"Looks like it's just you and me old man." The leader of the band said as he unsheathed his scimitar.  
  
The Wanderer faced this last brigand, saying nothing, his hand on the pommel of his sword.  
  
"Last chance to run. The child can't possibly mean anything to you so why bother?" The leader said, smiling cruelly.  
  
The Wanderer grabbed his sword but did not draw it, but rather eased himself into a position to use a technique, which would allow him to draw his blade faster.  
  
"A fast-draw technique? With a dual-edge blade? Heh, it's your funeral, old man."  
  
The leader charged the Wanderer, his scimitar held high. The young Katt could not bear to watch so she buried her face in her mother's corpse. She heard the harsh sound of metal cutting through leather, flesh and bone and then silence. Her curiosity and woren fighter's nature prompted her to look. She saw the leader with his sword down and the Wanderer, a few feet from where he had been, with his sword drawn; the blade seemed to glow blue in the light. A slight gust of wind blew and the leader's torso fell; he had been cleaved in twain by the Wanderer's sword. The Wanderer sheathed his sword and his face seemed to soften, take on a hidden sorrowful look. He turned and walked up to the child-Katt, fell to his knees and held her.  
  
"I'm so sorry." He said deep sorrow in his voice. "If I had been here sooner I could have saved them, please forgive me."  
  
Katt said nothing, for she was tired and, being so exhausted she fell asleep in his arms. When she awoke, there were to mounds beneath a tree where there had been none before, the bodies of her parents and the leader of the hunters were no longer there as well as the hunter who had been unconscious. The Wanderer was kneeling over the two mounds, graves for her parents. He stood and looked at the young Katt.  
  
"Where do you live?" He said as he picked her up in his arms.  
  
It was dawn as they walked towards Katt's home. Katt said her silent goodbyes to her parents at that moment; a strong woren child, she was always prepared for the inevitability of death.  
  
********  
  
"... And from then until I was about thirteen or so, he trained me and took care of me. When I was about eighteen I went to Coursair and entered the tournaments where I met Ryu. We're married now and have a son." Katt finished.  
  
"We're so glad you're okay." Her father said. "Yes, we had heard of this Wanderer. You were lucky he came along when he did." Her mother said.  
  
"Yeah... I only wish I could thank him for what he did for me." Katt said.  
  
The landscape around Katt began to become indistinct and she felt very drowsy. She fell back into her father's arms and closed her eyes.  
  
"It is time for you to return. Please, live your life for yourself as much as for us." Her father said.  
  
Author's notes: W00t, 10'nth chapter. Hope you've all enjoyed Requiem of Souls so far, if you have tell me about it, and if you haven't enjoyed it tell me why. I'm gonna keep writing this until it's finished, so don't worry if you're concerned I won't finish it. 


	11. Soul Symphony

_Chapter11: Soul Symphony_

Nina swam in the small lake beneath the great tree; she had placed her clothes aside, on dry land and was now enjoying some time alone. She had cast a spell on herself so that she could breath underwater for brief periods of time. She enjoyed the sensation, using her wings to navigate the currents underwater because she felt that that must be what it would be like to fly.

In her youth she used to do the same; use her wings to 'fly' underwater because she could not fly in the skies. She felt it was a shame that the Windian people could not fly any longer, but perhaps they could not because they no longer needed to.

The moonlight streamed through the canopy, as it was a clear night the moonlight was particularly bright. There was also a fine mist and combined with the moonlight it created a sort of dream-like effect in the forest. Nina sat naked, for there was no one to see her, upon one of the moss-covered roots of the great tree. She contemplated the events that happened during her life: being banished from home, enrolling in magic school, the taunting coming from Windians who lived in Hometown but knew not of the curse, meeting the gang of thieves, them taking her sister, meeting Ryu and his friends, Mina becoming Great Bird and this voyage. Looking back she saw that there had been many opportunities for her to changes paths in her life, but if she had she wouldn't be who she was overall she had only one regret and that was that she never told Ryu how she felt and now it may be too late. And yet, she could not believe that he might be dead, he was always strong and confident in his abilities and the fact that he was of the Dragon Clan, it seemed to her that he couldn't die. And yet... Somehow she always came back to 'and yet'.

"Ryu... Where are you?" She asked the wind.

'Does something ail you, bird-child?' A mysterious voice asked.

Nina dived into the waters of the lake, covering herself. She could have sworn there was no one else here. If it was a monster she would have to fight, but she didn't want to disturb the tranquility of the forest.

"Who's there?" She demanded.

'I am here.' A deep voice spoke within her mind. 'I have always been here. Worry not for your modesty, for I do not care for the pleasures of the flesh. I am Yggdrasil, the tree of life.'

Nina turned to face the tree. In the trunk there grew a face; it looked old, weary and worn. The deep-set eyes seemed to be able to see through her to the depths of her very soul.

"How can I hear you? Only Spar could speak to the Great Trees." She said to Yggdrasil.

'The waters you have bathed in allow you to hear my voice as long as you are within those waters you can here me. Now what was it you said about Spar, the Seedling of the Great Sea of Trees? I have not heard of the mainland for untold generations... Has the seal at long last been broken?'

"How could you not know? I thought all of Yggdrasil trees were connected."

'Once we all were, yes. But many millennia ago, long before the Goddess began her first war of conquest, she and the dragons' wrath burned this land leaving it desolate. She put a seal on it preventing all but the natural inhabitants from coming or going. I have been alone, cut off from my own kind and when I die so will this land.'

"That's terrible!"

'It will not happen for a long time, something may happen to prevent it and it may not. Such things do not need to concern you. You are concerned about something else; please tell me what troubles you. Perhaps I can help.'

Nina was reluctant to speak; she did not want to speak of her troubles to Yggdrasil, especially since it seemed to have it's own problems. However, she felt a need to ask the great wise tree if he could help her find Ryu and Yua.

"Great tree, we are looking for our friends, Ryu and his sister Yua. They are of the Dragon clan, is there anyway you would know where they are?" She asked of Yggdrasil.

'Hmmmm. I have heard of many travelers that had washed onto the shore, the birds had brought the news to me, but at the time I thought they were referring to a type of fish they had found; after all there have been no travelers here for millennia. Except for the dragons.' The tree said.

"Dragons?"

'Nearly five centuries ago, members of the Dark Dragon clan appeared on wings of light. I assume they were using one of the Goddess Keys, which would be the only thing capable of breaching the barrier created by the Goddess. They inhabit a city near the factory city. They, in all likelihood, know of your friends.'

Nina took this information, got dressed and headed to speak with Bleu and Jean about it. She turned to face the great tree once more, she felt bad for its current state of affairs, but knowing there was nothing she could do she moved on.

*******

Draigan sat in a bar in the city that was on the ground, below the Sky Garden. Having brought many concepts with them from their former home of Scande, the Black Dragon needed to have some means of entertainment in their new location. A way to celebrate good times and mourn bad ones. Draigan was currently doing the latter, not the former due to a rather unfortunate encounter with his father, the leader of the Black Dragon Clan. He was sitting in the bar with a mug of mead hoping to forget his troubles. The bartender whom always had an ear for peoples' troubles came up to Draigan; as it was the middle of the day the bar was rather empty.

"Zenny for your thoughts, young master?" The large man asked.

Everyone who wasn't a friend of his called him that as a form of respect because of his father. He didn't like the term much, especially after he had spoken with his father. Sighing deeply, he proceeded to tell the barkeep everything that had happened.

Earlier that day he had gone to the temple where his father resided and conducted the daily business of the clan. People had begun to descend from the Sky Garden returning to their lives as they had been prior to the plague. The plague itself had dissipated and there had been no cases for a while, there were still those who had been permanently affected by the disease, but they were well cared for on the Sky Garden. It was another matter that Draigan came to see his father for.

"Elder, Draigan is here to see you sir." The assistant said as she escorted Draigan into his father's office.

The elder didn't even bother to look up from his work as he continued to write, barely even acknowledged his son's presence. The assistant left, leaving the two alone. The elder still did not look up and Draigan stood staring down at his father. He truly didn't want to speak to the man but he still held a lot of respect for his father even if there was no love lost between the two.

"Father, I have come to ask your permission." Draigan said.

"You have never come to me before for permission so this must be very important. State your case." The elder said, still not raising his eyes to look at his son.

"I wish to marry Yua." Draigan said. There was no point in dragging this debate out, he felt, so he went straight to the point.

At this the elder did stop his work and faced Draigan. His craggy face looked like it had never smiled and if he would that his face would crack. He fixed his son with a very disapproving stare.

"No." He said simply.

"And why not?" Draigan said with absolute calm.

"She is a dragon whose power has not been sealed. The goddess Myria would not permit our clan's powers to be revived by the offspring of you and the girl."

"We are the Black Dragon Clan, we worship the dragon god Ladon, not Myria. We should not obey any command of hers out of fear. We were strong once and we can be strong again." Draigan said, all the while maintaining an absolute calm.

"Foolish boy, one does not bring the wrath of the gods down on one's clan. We cannot afford to have the goddess' ire brought down upon us, you will wed whom I have chosen for you." The elder said his voice brimming with anger.

"No I won't father. I love Yua and I know she feels the same, so I'll be damned if I let you get in the way." Draigan said, his own voice rising in anger.

"You have a duty to your people. You will carry out that duty no matter how you may feel about it." The elder said as he rose from his chair.

"I have a duty to myself too." Draigan said as he turned and walked away.

"You WILL obey me, you will listen to me!" The elder shouted after Draigan.

And so he finished his tale to the barkeep. Draigan sat back and took another sip of his mead.

"You have really stepped in it this time, Draigan." A voice said.

Two men entered the bar; they were friends of Draigan, but they relished being able to point out the mistakes he had made.

"Yeah, putting yourself on the line like that, you really must care for the girl huh?" The other said.

"You've never cared this much for a woman before... What'd you do, sleep with her or something?"

Draigan turned away from his friends, scowling.

"You did, didn't you? Score, man! Wow, this girl must be a thief, to have stolen your heart like this."

"You really shouldn't say stuff like that, it's very rude." Yua said as she entered the bar.

Yua walked over to Draigan, sat on his lap and kissed him on his cheek. Draigan who was not embarrassed by this display of affection returned the embrace. His friends and many of the drunkards in the bar hooted at the show. Yua didn't care if they saw or what they did; she had always followed her heart.

"I've been hearing an interesting rumor; about how you and your dad are in a tiff because you want to marry some girl?" She said in an almost coy way.

"It's impossible to keep a secret in such a small city ain't it Draigan?" One of his friends said.

"Well if it is true, do you still wanna?" Yua whispered in his ear.

"I've never said anything I didn't mean and I always do what I say I'm going to do. Why, are you saying you would marry me?" Draigan said so the entire bar could hear him.

"There isn't anyone else, dummy." She said punching him playfully in the arm. "Well, to celebrate my upcoming nuptials, I'm treating everyone in this bar for the entire day!"

The entire bar cheered as she tossed a money pouch to the barkeep; who smirked as he recognized the pouch. The one who had made the previous remark about Yua and Draigan sleeping together recognized it too as he felt for his money pouch, only to find it missing.

"Hey that's... when did you... Hey!!!" He stuttered.

"You were right about one thing, I am a thief." She smirked at the commentator.

*******

Katt woke up slowly; she felt completely rested but still quite weak. She looked around and found her surroundings unfamiliar. It looked similar to doctor Kay's hospital, but whiter and neater, if that was possible. Katt herself was dressed in a fine white robe. She got out of the bed she was lying in and winced as she put weight on her foot; the ankle felt weak and tender. She sat back down and examined her leg; she recognized that her leg had recently healed. She spotted her staff lying in a corner and limped over to it. Using it as a support she limped towards the exit. She carefully looked outside and saw that it was a wagon that she had been in, a small part of a huge caravan, which was currently more like a camp than a caravan; there were many strange people that were walking about. Being extra careful, or as careful as she could with a limp, she sneaked past all of these people. She was determined to find out where she was and where the others were, she felt she needed to see Ryu. She didn't feel like he was hurt or in danger, it was just a sense of urgency. She continued to limp around until she heard two familiar voices.

"When's Bow coming back? I'm hungry and bored." Sten whined.

"Why don't you go play cards with the locals?" Rand said calmly, barely paying attention to the Highlander.

"I think I've fleeced them of everything they're worth already. I wish something interesting would happen."

"Be careful what you wish for monkey, you just might get it." Katt said approaching them.

Rand was the first to recover from his shock at seeing her up. He charged towards her and engulfed her in a bear hug. Katt struggled under the pressure of Rand's strength.

"I ... appreciate... you're affection... but you're crushing me. Leggo!" She gasped.

Rand let her go, looking a little embarrassed at his lack of control. She looked the two over and was glad she hadn't been asleep for twenty years like in an old story she heard once.

"So where's Ryu and the rest?" She asked.

Rand and Sten looked at each other with looks of sorrow on their faces. They truly didn't know how to break the bad news to her.

"Well, that is..." Rand started.

"We don't know where he is." Sten lied, or at least lied from his point of view.

"That's okay. We'll find him. I'd know if something happened to him, so he's gotta be still around somewhere right?" Katt replied jovially.

The way she said it gave both Rand and Sten confidence that they could indeed find Ryu. They had all gone through hell and come back together, there was no way he could be deceased, all they had needed was someone to tell them that.

"So where are we and where are we going?" Katt asked them.

She sat down, as she knew it was going to be a long explanation.

Author notes: Sorry it took me awhile to get this done, a combination of writer's block and obscene heat kept me from writing. However I have not been completely idle and have written some original works if you would care to look at them. They are here: fictionpress.com under the author name Artificer Urza

For those of you who have often wondered what kind of dragon you'd be I have found a site where there is a dragon personality quiz, check it out: dragonhame.com (and in case you're wondering I am a Heliotropic Dragon) 

And finally for those of you who remember the 'Hello Nina' interactive fanfic, it has been revived at www.mediaminer.org


	12. Psalm of Souls

Chapter12: Psalm of Souls  
  
It was dawn in the Urkan city, a dawn that heralded a very import day. That day was the final farewell of the Guardian Gatz; he was leaving the Urkan people for the Inner Continent. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, no one would see him on this continent again. They had all gathered by the gates to say their farewells, even Ryu, though he hadn't known Gatz very well. The brothers Gatz and Gaw bade each other goodbye and both silently prayed nothing would happen; they were the only family each other had.  
  
There was another reason the day was special, however. It was the day of the ceremony for Gaw to become the next Guardian. A truly momentous day and Ryu was invited with a front row view of the whole ceremony along with Gaist and Garr. It was to be a grand ceremony, supposedly the presence of the Goddess could be felt and to that Ryu had one thing to say.  
  
"Hokum." Ryu said as he, Jasmine, Garr and Gaist proceeded to the temple.  
  
"What??" Jasmine asked astonished.  
  
"Hokum: adjective, describing something as unbelievable, illogical or as complete and utter bullshit." Gaist smirked, sounding like an encyclopedia.  
  
"We know what the word means, Gaist. We were wondering why Ryu said it." Garr said.  
  
"Because I don't think a god would just come down here and display their power like that. I mean, don't they have angels or something for stuff like that?" Ryu asked.  
  
"You weren't there, Ryu. You'll find out that it was her, her eternal love and caring were unmistakable." Jasmine said holding Ryu's hands.  
  
She ran off towards the temple leaving a rather stunned Ryu in the company of a smirking Gaist and a perplexed Garr.  
  
"So why did you want to come if you don't believe or enjoy religion?" Garr asked.  
  
"I know, I know!" Gaist said smiling evilly. "It's because a certain young lady sings a hymn before the start of a ceremony isn't it?"  
  
Ryu said nothing as he walked towards the temple. Gaist followed, chuckling and Garr merely shook his head and followed them.  
  
The temple was crowded but Ryu, Gaist and Garr still got good places to see the raised ziggurat-like platform. Jasmine had begun to sing and, to Ryu, all the seraphim and cherubim in the heavenly court, if there was a heavenly court, could not compare. The song ended and Gaw stepped forward dressed in ceremonial garb. Ryu noticed that it was identical to his brother's Guardian clothes, except it looked far too large on Gaw's bulky yet human frame. Gaw stepped onto the top step of the platform and he stood before the Sudama. Between them the floor was a raised circular block.  
  
"Will you follow the Goddess' will, Her desire and Her law?" Sudama intoned.  
  
"I will." Gaw replied.  
  
"Will you follow Her into fire, follow Her into darkness, will you follow her into death?" Sudama asked Gaw.  
  
"I will." Gaw answered.  
  
"Then follow." He beckoned.  
  
Gaw stepped onto the circular block and light erupted from beneath the dais, engulfing Gaw. It became a yellow column of flame and yet even though it visibly touched Gaw, he neither flinched nor was he harmed by it. And then the changes began; his skin began to whiten becoming ivory in color, his muscles began to grow, filling out the ceremonial garb her wore. All in the temple could hear the snap, crackle and pop of muscle, bone and sinew. In the back of the vest he wore, two small, fragile looking wings poked through the holes. Those quickly gained mass and muscle and then, Gaw screamed. As he screamed his face seemed to push forward and become more draconic in nature, horns grew upon his skull and his hair seemed to recede and vanish. His pupils faded away as his eyeballs became a milky blue color. The column of lame died down and vanished, the new Guardian stood, confident, noble and assured in his purpose.  
  
"To the end of this and of everything I shall follow you." He said.  
  
With a wave of his arm and a burst of flame, Gaw summoned his Ogre blade.  
  
"People of Urka, by this blade I am commanded to protect the Goddess and Her followers from those who would harm the world. I swear I shall fight to protect you all, I will fight and defeat all enemies of the Goddess!" He shouted responding to the cries of joy of the people.  
  
"Well, you have to admit; that was impressive." Gaist said.  
  
"Truly a sight to behold, right Ryu? Huh... RYU?" Garr yelled looking at Ryu.  
  
Ryu was crouching on the ground, his hands over his ears and his eyes wide in fear or perhaps shock. He kept repeating the same things over and over again.  
  
"Make Her shut up. Make Her SHUT UP! Get Her out of my head!" Ryu repeated over and over.  
  
Garr attempted to shake Ryu out of this delusional state, but he could not even touch Ryu as tiny lightning shocked him whenever he tried to get close to Ryu. The three masked priests followed by the Sudama and the new Guardian approached.  
  
"The boy will be in our care now." The bull masked Buliarus said.  
  
"Dissssperssse the crowd, Ssssssudama. We will take care of the resssssst." Serpentarius said.  
  
Gaw picked up Ryu with little effort and was not visibly affected by the lightning Ryu gave off. Garr trusted these high priests implicitly but Gaist was a little suspicious; the way the said 'we will take care of the rest' simply didn't feel right to him.  
  
*******  
  
Ryu floated in an infinite white space. He knew he was not awake and yet was this a dream? Glancing around himself he saw nothing but white, no shadow no other colors, just white. He could not tell if he was upside down or sideways, he just had the impression he was lying down. He also could not move; this was not an impression, he had tried and he could not move, as though he was paralyzed from the neck down.  
  
"Well, as dreams go, this isn't any fun." Ryu said to himself.  
  
"That would probably be because this isn't really a dream." A voice said.  
  
From within the white a black shadow appeared, a shadow like no other for it was a person made of shadow, or so it seemed to Ryu. And this person- silhouette looked exactly like Ryu. The silhouette-person walked up to Ryu and stood there watching him.  
  
"And you are?" Ryu asked cautiously of the silhouette-person.  
  
"You know who I am." The silhouette replied.  
  
"Um... No I don't." Ryu countered. "I think I would remember someone as... Unique as you."  
  
"You don't remember me, but your real self knows me. He has forgotten everything because reality became too harsh for him. He believes he has lost everything."  
  
"That really helps." Ryu said sarcastically. "Could you possibly be any more cryptic?"  
  
"I could if you want me to." The silhouette said laughing.  
  
"Fine. Whatever. Can you at least tell me what this place is, if not a dream?"  
  
"This is your subconscious trying to tell you what's happening to your body while your unconscious. Speaking of which, you may want to brace yourself, 'cause this is going to hurt." The silhouette said.  
  
An inky black stain appeared and grew in that endless white, it grew till it was fairly large. Ryu could barely see it as it was just inside his field of vision. Suddenly, from within that stain an inky black serpent grew, it seemed apart of the stain, an extension of it. It approached Ryu, still connected to the stain, floating and slithering in the 'air' of the endless white void. The serpent hovered a brief moment above Ryu's chest and then plunged itself into Ryu. The serpent passed through Ryu's chest and out his back and Ryu screamed in agony. As the serpent passed by Ryu on its way to return to the stain, Ryu could see a small orb in its mouth. When the ophidian returned to the stain, its head vanished into the dark mass and its tail appeared from the spot from which its body had first exited. The tail followed the path through Ryu's body and disappeared into the black stain. As it passed through him, Ryu choked and coughed up blood, he knew without seeing it, that he had a bloody gaping hole in his chest and yet he was not dead.  
  
"W...Why didn't... Stop it?" Ryu asked of the silhouette man, who stood beside him.  
  
"I can't do anything unless you call for my aid. Besides, if I did help you she would find 'me' and then the world would truly be in deep shit." The silhouette replied.  
  
Ryu struggled to turn his head to get a better view of the silhouette man, but saw the black stain instead. The stain seemed to fluctuate and countless serpents seemed to snake forth from the black mass and for the first time he could remember, Ryu was afraid. He heard a feminine voice from within the black mass.  
  
"My Ryu." The voice said.  
  
*******  
  
Ryu sat straight up as he awoke, cold sweat poured down his body. He frantically put a hand to his chest, if only to reassure himself that there was no gaping, bloody hole in his chest. He was breathing hard, even though the sensation of panic and fear were beginning to dissipate. The fact that he could remember the dream, if it was a dream, disturbed him for he had been unable to remember any of his previous dreams, he only knew that he had dreamed.  
  
'What the hell was that?' Ryu thought, looking at his hand. 'And how did I get back to my room?'  
  
His thoughts were interrupted as Jasmine came into the room, she had a melancholy look on her face and she was carrying a bowl of water. Her eyes were cast downwards so she did not see that Ryu was up.  
  
"Hey, why the long face? Did someone die while I was asleep?" Ryu asked.  
  
Jasmine dropped the bowl; it shattered and made a loud crash on impact. She stared at Ryu, in seeming shock that he was awake.  
  
"Ryu!! You're awake!" She shrieked as she rushed towards him, hugging him fiercely. "Please don't scare me like that, I-I thought you were never going to wake up."  
  
"Hey, I'm okay. I'm not going anywhere, it's okay." Ryu said holding, trying to console her. "How long was I out?"  
  
"Since yesterday morning, after the ceremony. The three High Priests and the Sundama took you away for awhile and returned you here at around the twilight hour."  
  
"Geez, that long? I have to catch up on some scribing." Ryu said, referring to the job he had had since arriving in the Urkan city.  
  
Ryu had been transcribing ancient and worn tomes so that, even should they be lost during transport due to their fragility, there would be a replacement copy available. Gaist continually assured him that it was far better than cleaning.  
  
After telling Jasmine several times he would be fine, she conceded to allow him to go to the temple to do his job. He dressed and ate, all the while Jasmine hovering, fretting over him and managed, somehow, to get out the door without too much trouble. Outside he met Gaist; that was unusual in itself, for Gaist was usually helping to train the younger monks of the Urkan defenders.  
  
"Not you too, Gaist! I keep telling people I'm fine." Ryu said.  
  
"Actually, I know your fine. It's because of this that I have to ask you to come with me. Apparently, the Sudama thinks you're capable of being a good fighter, Goddess knows why though, and has asked me to bring you to training." Gaist said.  
  
After kissing Jasmine goodbye, Ryu headed off with Gaist to the training area. The instructor of the defenders was named Victor, but he was most commonly known by his nickname: Bear. The reason for this name was due to his size and strength, but mostly to his gruff personality, he was an old soldier through and through. All the practice was done with wooden swords, however, those swords weighed about the same as a regular long sword, so they could adapt to its use. Ryu didn't know, or more accurately, didn't remember if he was proficient with a sword but as soon as he picked it up in his left hand and swung the sword twice he noticed two things: one, he felt perfectly comfortable with a sword, as though he was meant to use one and two, the sword was off-balance.  
  
"Is there a problem, kid?" The Bear asked him.  
  
When Ryu pointed out the problem, the Bear took the wooden sword and swung it experimentally. He smiled and beckoned all the students to gather.  
  
"It appears we have something of a swordsman in our midst. I'm gonna have sparring match with this kid. Corrith, Maclaw, get the swords from the armory. Make sure there's one of each type." The Bear said, sending off two of his students.  
  
"Er... Don't I get a say in this?" Ryu asked as he watched students gather around.  
  
"Nope. Now listen this is just a sparring match, nothing to be afraid of. We're just going to fight until first blood and I'll go easy on you at fist, so you can get used to it okay?"  
  
The two students game back with a multitude of swords, including falchions, scimitars, rapiers, katanas and even a Colada El Cid. The Bear chose a claymore, settling into a relaxed attack position, the sword in his left hand.  
  
"I bet this guy doesn't even last ten minutes." One of the students commented.  
  
"Pfft, you're giving the kid to much credit. He won't even last ten seconds." Another stated.  
  
This little argument began a little betting pool as to how long Ryu would last.  
  
"You really don't think Ryu can win?" Gasit asked. As he got a vehement negative as a reply, he made his own bet. "I think Ryu is going to win, so I bet 1000 zenny on him."  
  
The students thinking they had finally something they could beat Gaist at, agreed. Garr was the only one not betting and he was only paying mild interest to the match. Ryu chose a single edged sword as his weapon and walked toward the Bear.  
  
"Hey Garr, you sure you don't want to join in?" Gaist asked.  
  
Garr merely hmphed and turned to watch the match. It started out simply enough, the Bear attacked with a flurry of slashing and stabbing attacks and Ryu blocked. At first Ryu's blocks and parries were clumsy and he very nearly was cut several times but he managed to avoid it. Over a very short time, however, his movements gained more fluidity and grace and his defense became impenetrable, his blade metting the claymore's at every slash. Then, suddenly, Ryu struck at the Bear. The blades impacted on each other and the swordsmen held them there, they both seemed about even in terms of skill at that point, it appeared to be a stalemate.  
  
"I think that'll do for the warm up. Are you ready to fight seriously now?" Ryu asked.  
  
In reply the Bear shoved him away with his sword. Ryu slid in the dirt several feet away, but never lost his footing. The Bear changed his word from his left hand to his right and slashed twice in the air.  
  
"I guess I don't need to hold back huh?" The Bear chuckled.  
  
Most of the students gaped for they had not known the Bear was right- handed. The Bear had summarily, concisely and easily beaten them using only his left hand. Gaist merely smiled, now things would truly get interesting.  
  
The two charged each other and the grim waltz of swords began anew. The Bear renewed his assault with speed and grace and Ryu answered in kind. They seemed too evenly matched, as they moved across the field, neither was giving an inch, both putting everything into the match; or so it seemed. Ryu dodged a descending slice, hoping to get within the old man's guard but as he tried to get in he found himself walking into the blade as it swept upwards towards him as it's path reversed. Ryu barely dodged the slice and even had to roll back to regain his footing. The Bear raised his sword and brought it down.  
  
"KUHAZAN!" He said.  
  
The air seemed to become a tangible blade as it raced towards Ryu, bringing a great cloud of dust with it. Again, Ryu barely dodged and for the first time it looked like he may be outmatched by the older more experienced swordsman.  
  
"What the hell was that?" One student asked.  
  
"Air Blade. It's a move that is similar to my air strike, Shippu Ken, technique; it uses the very air as a long range weapon." Gaist said.  
  
"KUHAZAN!" The Bear used the move again.  
  
Ryu didn't dodge the attack this time instead he readied his sword and yelled as he swung it downwards.  
  
"KUHAZAN!" Ryu yelled duplicating the air slash technique.  
  
The two attacks collided, creating an immense dust cloud. Gaist gave a low whistle, he had no idea Ryu was capable of learning techniques that quickly. The Bear wiped dust out of his eyes and looked around for Ryu. Then a shadow covered him from above and he looked up. Ryu descended upon him his sword coming first. The Bear brought his claymore up, bracing the other end of it with his left hand. The two swords impacted with a loud clang and all stared in amazement as they saw Ryu, curled in a tight little ball, placing his full weight upon his sword, was balancing on his, and consequently the Bear's, sword. The Bear grunted beneath the weight and shoved Ryu away. Ryu somersaulted and landed perfectly on his feet and charged the Bear again. This time the two battled close quarters and the Bear managed to twist Ryu's sword away from him, sending it flying straight up in the air. Thinking to finish it, the Bear stabbed diagonally downwards. Ryu dove beneath the sword's edge and rolled past the Bear and recoverd his sword as it came down and as he rolled to his feet. As Ryu came to his feet he found the edge of the claymore thrust beneath his chin.  
  
"Surrender." The Bear panted, this had been the most challenging match he had ever received.  
  
"Why should I when I won." Ryu said smiling, looking at a spot on the Bear's forearm.  
  
Looking to the spot Ryu looked at the Bear saw a thin trail of his own blood drizzle down his forearm.  
  
'When did that happen?' He thought.  
  
The Bear discarded his sword and threw up his hands as a sign of defeat, much to the dismay and shock of most students and to the pleasure of Gaist, who was now a very rich man. A student passed the Bear a strip of cloth to bind his wound and the Bear spoke to Gaist.  
  
"The kid's good, so good in fact that I want you to take him with you tomorrow during patrol. There's nothing I can teach him, he's already better than me." The Bear said to Gaist.  
  
"Are you sure, sir?" Garr asked.  
  
"As sure as I am that Ryu was holding back. If he had fought with everything he had, he'd probably have killed me." The Bear said nonchalantly.  
  
Ryu looked sheepish; it was true, he had been holding back, but only because he still wasn't sure of how good he was.  
  
Authors Notes: Okay I know what you're thinking: 'what's his excuse this time for being slow with the chapter?' Well I've been busy with other writing projects, including one having to do with my next Breath of Fire story, but more than that, well, 'That is a secret' as Xellos would say. Other than that I've been trying to get a permanent job, which is a lot harder than it sounds as I'm still unemployed. If anybody out there can get me a job as a programmer in Montreal I'd really appreciate it. But you guys don't care about my problems, I just hope you're enjoying 'Requiem of Souls' and if you are, tell me and if not, tell me why not. I can always stand to improve. 


	13. Requiem of Souls

Chapter 13: Requiem of Souls  
  
The desert: a harsh and unforgiving place even to those who can survive there. A plethora of monsters, all hostile, inhabit the region forcing the Urkans to patrol the area and disperse monster gathering spots, destroying monster nests in hopes of keeping their own people safe. Until recently, those patrols had not had any specific goal or monster to attack; that all changed with the sudden increase of Creon in the area began to threaten Urkan travelers and caravans travelling towards Kombinat. This increase in activity forced Urkans to increase the number of patrols in the area, or at least that's what Gaist told Ryu.  
  
"Just think of us as exterminators." Gaist told Ryu as they walked northward towards the Mountain called 'Death's Passage'.  
  
"The problem is we can't find the nest, if we could find that we could wipe out the Creon in this area permanently." Garr interjected.  
  
"If there's been such an increase in the number of Creon shouldn't they be easy to find?" Ryu asked.  
  
"Not really, Creon live underground in moist temperate climates, so you can imagine a desert is not the best place for them. We guess that their nest must be somewhere in Death's Passage." Gaist responded.  
  
"What makes you think that? And why do they call it 'Death's Passage' anyways?" Ryu asked.  
  
"It's called Death's Passage because it's a small underground tunnel through the mountains that leads to a huge expanse of desert called the 'Desert of Death'. A single day in that area is enough to get you lost and dehydrated if you don't know what you're doing." Garr said.  
  
"As for why we think it's there, well, last time there was a patrol in the area they found an incredible number of Creon gathering there and knowing how Creon need certain types of living conditions to survive we made an educated guess." Gaist answered.  
  
The three had begun their journey each carrying their own pack of supplies, just in case any one of them should become separated. What few monsters they met along the way were easy to dispatch and not a Creon among them, overall a very boring trip as far as Ryu was concerned. It only took them about a day to reach the entrance to 'Death's Passage'. The interior was mostly man-made, the walls constructed of metal, most of the time, and other parts were rock though there were obviously no signs of Creon infestation; the entire tunnel was far to small to hold the Creon queen, called Terrapin.  
  
"Well this was a great way to spend the day!" Ryu said sarcastically upon exiting the tunnel.  
  
"At least we got some exercise." Gaist smiled as he looked back at the tunnel.  
  
"Uh... shouldn't we be able to see the city from here?" Ryu asked looking at the horizon.  
  
In the distance, where even from here they should have been able to see Urkan city, Ryu saw nothing but a swirling brown haze that seemed to be getting closer.  
  
"That's..." Garr began but could not finish, horror in his voice.  
  
"Shit..." Gaist said, his face grave. "A sandstorm, coming up fast. C'mon, we have to get ready."  
  
Ryu watched as the two pulled heavy white cloaks from their packs and quickly put them on, bracing themselves against the mountain wall in the corner as they did so. Ryu fetched a similar cloak out of his own pack and followed their example. The cloak itself felt very nice in the rising wind and the heat of the desert did not feel as oppressive. As Garr and Gaist did he braced himself up against the rock face and sat down holding his knees close to himself.  
  
"Why are we doing this?" He shouted over the rising noise of the oncoming sandstorm.  
  
"To protect ourselves from the sandstorm. The cloaks will protect us from the sand and the mountain face should keep us from being blown away by the winds." Gaist yelled back.  
  
"Any other advice?" Ryu yelled.  
  
"Pray to whatever gods you believe in that you don't get sand down your pants!" Gaist yelled.  
  
"Must you always make light of the situation?" Garr yelled just as the storm hit.  
  
Visibility was reduced to zero as the sand swirled about him, the winds abominably strong, he could feel the biting sands and he closed his eyes. He felt, though he hoped it was his imagination, that he was being lifted off the ground. He felt some thing strike him, or was it he that struck something, and he passed out.  
  
Ryu woke, gods knew how long later lying half buried in the sand. He looked about himself and noticed several things; one, it was night, two, it was still god damned hot, even for night in the desert, the third thing he noticed was most disturbing: he was on the other side of the mountain range, he was now in the desert of death. Resigning himself to his misfortune he began to walk back towards 'Death's Passage'.  
  
"At least it can't get any worse." He muttered to himself.  
  
AS he spoke those words, even a whisper as they were, the ground began to shake. Looking behind himself, Ryu saw a giant sandworm emerge from the desert. Whilst nowhere near as large as the one Nina, Bleu, Jean and the Wanderer had fought; it was still far more than large enough to make a meal of a lone adventurer.  
  
"Note to self; never, EVER say that things can't get worse." Ryu said under his breath as he began to run towards the mountain range.  
  
As he ran, pain erupted in his body and he stumbled. He felt as though his bones were growing, as though that growth would rip him apart, and a cold, freezing sensation spread from within his bones. He held his arms trying to warm himself enough to move, for he could hear the sandworm approaching. He was so focused on his physical pain and the approaching sandworm that he did not notice his skin had become a blue-ish white colour and had taken on a scale-like texture. Nor did he notice how his eyes were shifting between human and serpentine in appearance, or how his breath had become ice cold, visible as mist in the hot desert air. He did notice that the worm was now upon him and there was nothing he could do, neither to escape nor defend himself. And then he heard it: a deafening roar descending upon the land. He looked up to witness a dragon diving upon the worm, it's fiery crimson scales glowing like embers, reflecting the light of the moon and stars of the night sky. The great crimson beast breathed what looked like liquid flame upon the worm and Ryu, prayed the two monsters would kill each other. The intense heat of the flames melted the sand around the worm, turning it to glass, the worm tried to escape but the dragon caught it in it's claws and breathed it's flames upon the worm again at close range and the worm screamed in agony. The volcanic heat began to wear at his consciousness as his vision wavered in and out; having just awoken a little while ago did not do anything to aid the situation and as he was already on his knees, it did not take much for him to fall over, unconscious.  
  
*******  
  
Ryu fazed in and out of consciousness, he couldn't tell if he was asleep or awake. One thing remained constant was someone singing. The melody sounded so familiar to him, but he could not hear clearly. Desperately he focused on the words the tune, as though those could anchor him to reality, to the waking world. The faint melody stirred a memory and he remembered a woman standing over him when he was a child, singing a lullaby.  
  
"Ye sai no Shei! Ya yu no Hwo, Ye sai no Fun! Ya yu no To."  
  
The soft, though mournful melody went and he knew the person who sang it in his memories, but, the song he remembered did not correspond to reality as the one who sang the song now had a deep baritone and the song itself was longer.  
  
"Ye sai no Shei! Ya yu no Hwo, Ye sai no Fun! Ya yu no To. Ya ni hikari Yo na Yami."  
  
Despite the difference in singers, the song retained its mournful quality, as though there was something lost to the world, something precious and yet that hope remained.  
  
"Mother..." Ryu said softly, remembering the first person from which he heard the song.  
  
The noise Ryu made, the stranger sitting by the fire noticed his stirring. The man was old and seemed to have the weight of the world on his shoulders, 'twas the wanderer, though Ryu did not know it at the time. Ryu glanced about as he sat up. He saw it was a simple campfire and he was in the only sleeping pallet.  
  
"You're awake." The Wanderer stated.  
  
"That song... What were you singing a moment ago?" Ryu asked.  
  
"That was an old song, sung in the tongue of the dragon race. It was called the 'Hymn of Dragons', though it is more commonly known today as the 'Requiem of Souls'. It is used now to mourn the dead, though in days long gone it was used to praise the gods of water, fire, wind, earth, the dragons of light and the dragons of darkness." The Wanderer recounted.  
  
"Darkness? Why would anyone want to praise evil?" Ryu asked, confused.  
  
The Wanderer laughed slightly and added a liquid to the fire causing it to grow higher.  
  
"That's rather narrow minded. 'Darkness' and 'evil' aren't the same thing. I'll tell you a story; long ago there was a clan of mighty beings. This clan was unique for its people were divided into two: One was called the 'clan of the light'; the other part was called the 'clan of darkness'. Each clan had a specific purpose, the light was to defend and heal its people, the darkness to attack those who were a threat to the clan. You see, neither was 'evil' or 'good', but one did wield the power of light and the other the power of darkness. Do you understand?"  
  
"I suppose..." Ryu said unsure of himself.  
  
Ryu lay back to watch the stars and think about what the Wanderer said. It made a sort of sense; darkness and light weren't they after all just another form of power? An element of the world, like fire, water, wind or earth? Neither complying to any form of 'good' or 'evil', they simply were. It was how one used those powers that made them 'good' or 'evil' and even then it was a matter of perspective. After all Ryu had seen the power of light used to do evil. The sudden thought startled Ryu. Had he seen that before? And if he did where was it. That little enigma wrapped in a conundrum packaged in a riddle kept Ryu up all night, though he didn't realize it.  
  
Ryu wasn't paying attention to anything, though he was awake; the Wanderer as well had been awake all night, seemingly never tiring, though Ryu never noticed. It was the smell of cooking oil and frying worm flesh that 'woke' Ryu up. As he ate his meal, he wondered several things, like why did the dragon leave him alone, how did the Wanderer get here and why did he think of caramel sauce as he ate. When he thought of these, especially the dragon, he felt a pain in his head, a block in his memory as though he knew something but couldn't bring himself to consciously think it.  
  
When Ryu had a chance to look at the landscape he was surprised; it appeared that he was on the right side of "Death's Passage', the Urkan city being clearly visible in the distance. The Wanderer agreed to accompany Ryu some ways to the city. The monsters they encountered were weak compared to their strength, so the Wanderer told him some tales of his own travels. The story that interested Ryu the most was of the 'Requiem of Souls' how the song was incomplete. The last line, which supposedly praised Ladon, the All-father, would only be sung to herald in the Avatar of Ladon, so no one knew what the line was. The journey seemed markedly short to Ryu whom met up with Garr and Gaist about half way to the city. However, when Ryu tried to introduce the Wanderer to them, he found the old warrior gone, with no trace to be found.  
  
*******  
  
Katt sat upon the roof of one of the wagons of the wandering caravan, it was night and the stars were shinning brightly, the full of the moon casting soft light upon the Desert of Death. She looked up at the full moon and wondered if Ryu was looking at the same sky she was. Unbeknownst to her, he was indeed looking up at the same moon, wondering what he had lost in his memories. She began to hum softly, a melody she had learned long ago and she hummed the melody on occasion for it comforted her. It wasn't a Worren tune she sung, but rather something she had learned from the man who had taken care of her as a child. While most went about their business in the camp, a few heard the tune and mourned their lost friends. To Bow this song was filled with memories as he remembered Ryu singing around a campfire when they were young. Rand remembered when he was a child, his mother working in the fields humming a similar tune as she worked. Sten had no loved ones attached to the song, but he still remembered those he saw die on the battlefield and he too did mourn. It was Sten who approached Katt, nimbly climbing onto the roof of the wagon. He approached her, made no sound and simply took a seat beside her.  
  
"That's a beautiful song." Sten said.  
  
"Thanks... But I'm not really that good." Katt said, never taking her eyes off the moon.  
  
"Hey don't be so modest. The only place anybody could find more beautiful music would be in Tunlan." Sten said, referring to the city of song and music.  
  
Katt didn't even smile as she continued to look at the stars. Sten knew what was bothering her; he often felt the same when he was away from his own fiancé.  
  
"You really miss him, don't you?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah... But I have to keep going, for his sake and our son's." She said.  
  
"Well, in the mean time I could always take his place you know, warming your bed and such." Sten said with a mischievous smile.  
  
Katt's eyes widened and she tried to swipe at Sten. Sten rolled back to dodge the blow, laughing all the while. Katt was furious at first, but when she saw his mirth, she cracked a small smile as she realized he was joking around. Sten stopped laughing and pointed at her.  
  
"Made you smile." He said, grinning ear to ear.  
  
"Lets see how well you smile after this!" Katt said pouncing at him, laughing all the while.  
  
Katt chased Sten across the roofs of the wagons, the two of them laughing. Rand saw them and smiled, thinking that it was good to hear her laugh again. He also smirked at how nobody could stay down in the dumps with Sten around.  
  
'He should've been a court jester.' Rand thought.  
  
Author's Notes: First thing you should know, I suck at writing music and lyrics (as if it wasn't obvious from the 'song' I put in this chapter) so don't laugh. Let's see you do better, and I'm serious, if you come up with something that I like I'll put it in this chapter and subsequent chapters. Mind you it can only be 7 lines: one for each element, one for light, one for darkness and the last for Ladon. Speaking of music, if you like Breath of Fire music go here: , you'll find the best remixes here. Looking at the reviews I see we have new people (a few of which I didn't even ask to look at the story) and I ask of all reviewers to look at my other Fanfiction.net stories (just click on my author name, you'll see all the stories I've written), don't worry if you haven't played the game associated with the story, it won't matter if you did or not. I wonder though, is a koneko anything like a nekomata (demon cat-girl with 2 tails)? 


	14. Samba of Souls

Chapter 14: Samba of Souls  
  
The city of Kombinat, a factory, a place of work and construction; day in and day out machines are constructed and loaded upon the black ship by the inhabitants of this city. Who were the inhabitants of this city? They were those of the Black Dragon Clan who had fully accepted the Goddess Myria's rule and those who had chosen to go there because of the rampant disease that had recently graced the shores of the Outer Continent. Three more travellers came to the mechanical city that day, one a woman of resplendent, even angelic beauty, with her black wings, a beautiful indigo- haired woman with a snakes tail instead of legs and a frog man that was dressed in what can only be described as princely clothes. The city's inhabitants were not overly concerned with their appearance; they had grown so dependant on the Goddess that they felt if there was a threat She would take care of it. Nina felt that these people, however, were rather creepy.  
  
"They all have a disturbing similarity." She said.  
  
"Let's just say sis... I mean the Goddess doesn't like things to have too much variety; promotes chaos she says." Bleu said with an annoyed, chiding tone.  
  
"Mais la variete... Variety eez ze spice of life... Zis eez like having gruel everyday of votre vie." Jean said, in an almost desperate tone of voice.  
  
"Wait... Bleu, what did you mean by that? Do you know this 'Goddess'?" Nina asked.  
  
"Hey, why don't we ask the locals about Ryu or the others. Maybe they know something." Bleu said, completely ignoring what Nina had asked.  
  
Bleu slithered away with Jean following, leaving a bewildered Nina in their wake.  
  
"Wh-what? Hey, wait a minute Bleu! You didn't answer me! Bleu, wait!" Nina said, scrambling after them, still managing, somehow to look dignified.  
  
Bleu continued to ignore Nina's questions and Nina finally gave up. They went to the docks, hoping that any information on travellers could be obtained there. Nina wasn't sure she could speak to these people due to how they unnerved her; therefore, Bleu was the one to speak to them.  
  
"Excuse me... Excuse me, yes you could I speak with you for a moment?" Bleu asked a passer by.  
  
"Of course. How can I help you?" The woman said.  
  
"I'm looking for a blue-haired man, with green eyes and he's about yea tall." Bleu gestured Ryu's approximate height.  
  
"Yes actually I did see someone like that. I believe he was with some Urkans, they went to the eastern desert city, I believe. But that was many weeks ago."  
  
"Well shit..." Bleu said in an irritated manner. "Thanks for your time. Come on, Jean, Nina. I have something I want to check."  
  
The three went to a closed building; Bleu simply went up to the door and opened it.  
  
"Now you two wait here; be good while I'm gone, m'kay?" Bleu said in too- cheery voice.  
  
"Bleu, wait! Why are you going in there? Do you know some-" Nina didn't have the chance to finish as Bleu closed the door in Nina's face.  
  
Nina's eye twitched, this was not turning out to be her day; first the arduous walk through the hot desert, then having to speak to creepy people who looked as soulless as Deathevan's followers and now Bleu was acting strange and not telling her anything. She grasped the door handle and pulled; the door didn't even so much as shudder, it was like she was trying to pull the entire wall out.  
  
"Madame Nina, I'm sure zat everything will be okay, zere eez nothing to worry about. Even if Madame Bleu eez not telling us something, I'm sure she has her reasons." Jean said cheerfully.  
  
Nina was not the only one who was irritated. On the other side of the door, Bleu slithered over to a console and tapped some buttons. The screen above descended and lighted up, a mechanical voice emitted from the speakers but no image was seen.  
  
"You have reached Myria's tower, the Great Goddess is not in at the moment. If you could please-" The voice never had a chance to finish as it was cut off by Bleu's demand.  
  
"Cut the crap Eden, I'm not in the mood." Bleu said.  
  
"Ah L-Lady Deis, it has been a long time... I did not expect-" The voice stammered.  
  
"I said cut the crap, Eden. Where's Myria?" Bleu demanded.  
  
"I told you she isn't-" The voice started.  
  
"I know that, you eight bit, antiquated, cheap, arrogant, self-centred, rusty, old pocket calculator. Where did she go?" Bleu was rapidly loosing patience with the mechanical guardian of Myria's city Caer Xhan.  
  
"She is currently at the Urkan city in the east desert." The voice huffed.  
  
"Show me!" Bleu growled, her patience coming to an end.  
  
The screen changed from a white colour to a map of the surrounding area. One could see two cities next to each other and above the western most one were blinking letters, saying 'you are here'. To the northwest on the map one could see a small forest where the Yggdrasil grew, nestled in a corner of the mountain base. To the east across the mountain walls was a small desert valley with a city in the centre, above which blinked letters saying 'Myria is here'. To the north of the mountain barrier of both sides was an immense expanse of desert, known as the Desert of Death.  
  
"The old city of the dragons? Now there's an irony. Why is she there?" Bleu asked.  
  
In ancient times, before the disaster that created the desert of death occurred, the city the Urkan's now lived in had once been inhabited by a small group of the Dragon Clan.  
  
"There has been an increase in creon activity there..." The voice started.  
  
"And she wanted to 'help' them, damn her and her obsessive compulsive personality to the ninth pit of hell. She never learns." Bleu muttered.  
  
"As I was saying, coupled with the fact that the city shall soon be abandoned and the appearance of a Brood child there, Her Eminence felt that Her presence was required, if for nothing else then to bring the Brood child into her munificent guidance." The voice finished irritably.  
  
Bleu swore under her breath in several different languages, a few no longer spoken by any living today and turned off the console. The screen blinked off and Bleu thought of a possible solution.  
  
'If they're abandoning the city, that means they'll have to pass through here to get to the Black Ship. We can wait for Ryu in the Black Dragons' city.' She mused.  
  
She knew of the black dragons' city because she had helped construct the teleporter device there. She knew it would be a great place to stay and they would be able to get back to their own continent quickly. She only hoped that the Wanderer would be able to find Katt, Rand, Bow and Sten and bring them back here. She opened the door to see Nina and Jean sitting by the door. Bleu felt she had been a little short with Nina today, but there was no way she could tell her anything, let alone everything. Her only salvation was that Jean was so relaxed about everything; he wouldn't bother her much if at all about the subject. One of them, Bleu could handle, but both of them nagging her was a little too much with the situation she had to deal with now. She looked at the setting sun; it had been a long day.  
  
"Okay you two, feeling up to a short walk?" Bleu asked almost cheerfully.  
  
"Madame Bleu? But it eez getting dark." Jean said yawning.  
  
"Oh don't worry, it's not far. Right next door, really." Bleu smiled, slithering off, Nina and jean in tow.  
  
******  
  
Nighttime, a time to rest, to rejuvenate one's mind and body, to ponder the day's quandary and maybe even come up with a solution to life's questions. It's also happy hour at the local tavern of the Dark Dragon's city, though of late, there has been very little to be happy about. That night, however, was a time of momentous celebration for the youth of the city, what few there were left. Those few that were fifteen to their mid- twenties partook of drink and song to honour their friend Draigan and his upcoming though frowned upon nuptials. The tavern owner was all too happy to have guests and in fact, for the night, all drinks were on the house. The tavern was rather large, tables and chairs were all strategically placed to allow people to move freely without getting in each others way, the bar where drinks were served was a long counter that ran the length of the wall, the tavern owner stood behind it, giving out drinks enjoying the festivities and there was stage at the far end of the room where a band played; the sound carried quite well to all corners of the room, with no echo or sound distortion. The tables seemed to grow out of the floor, but were actually carved as apart of the building, a porcelain-like substance that all the buildings of the city were made out of. Draigan was talking to the tavern owner; he had been rather disconcerted about this party that was being held for him and his beloved Yua.  
  
"You really didn't have to do this, it isn't like father approved of my union." Draigan said.  
  
"I never really sided with yer father, hell, none of these youngsters do. It's mostly the older generation; the ones that don't want to anger the Goddess. Besides, this was the girl's idea, called it a 'bachelor party' I think, but not really, ye know? She's definitely not from around here to come up with something like this... Now go on she's waiting fer ye." The tavern keeper replied, shoving Draigan away with his drinks.  
  
Draigan rejoined Yua, close to the stage just as the band finished a song. The band was composed of youth who had grown bored and as a form of amusement learned to play all sorts of instruments even some of the more exotic and strange musical instruments. It was indeed fortunate that they had agreed to play tonight when Yua asked. The doors opened and for a split second the tavern keeper was afraid the elder had come to shut down this little party. He was quite relieved when he saw three strangers walk in. They were stranger, far more foreign then anybody he'd ever seen in his life; one, the leader he presumed, had a serpent's tail instead of legs and she slithered on the ground, but she easily matched the height of anybody here. The second was a woman of astonishing beauty, she seemed reserved and shy, the strangest thing about her were her black wings; true, Yua had black wings, but this woman had bird wings, she gave the tavern keeper the impression of an Angel. He made a mental note that should he have the great fortune to speak with her he would not ruin it by using the old pick-up line 'did it hurt when you fell from heaven?' The third, in the tavern keeper's eyes, was not a pretty sight; a frogman fat and ugly, in the tavern keeper's opinion, was wearing a regal looking hauberk, a mockery of royalty was his first thoughts upon seeing the frog. The leader came up to the bar and gazed the tavern keeper straight in the eyes and he was stuck be her beauty, she held an aura of immense and terrible power, but her eyes had a gentleness and mischievousness to them.  
  
"I'll have a mug of Dragon's Blood, if you still serve it and they'll have a glass of Fairy Wine each." She said.  
  
The tavern keeper raised an eyebrow; it was true he had a single barrel of Dragon's Blood left. The most potent alcoholic drink on the face of the planet, the secrete to making it had been lost long ago and thus the tavern keeper held what may have been the last barrel of the drink anywhere in the world. He, of course, didn't hand it out lightly, but not because it was so rare, rather because the one who drank it was taking their lives in their own hands. It was a well-documented fact that people often passed out after drinking a single pint of Dragon's Blood, those that didn't, died after having their second pint. The tavern keeper did not want anyone to die from drinking, especially not tonight, but the woman seemed so commanding, as though she knew she could handle it. The tavern keeper first took out two goblets and poured the Fairy Wine, it was relatively harmless, it had a strong scent of flours and a good taste, but little in the way of alcoholic content, more sugary than anything else, thus it's name. After passing the winged one and froggy their drinks, he went down beneath the counter, picked a glass and turned to a well kept but little used barrel. He turned the spigot, but at first nothing happened, it hadn't been used after all. Giving it a solid thump, the liquid came forth; it was a thick liquid, the deepest shade of blood-crimson one would ever see. He placed the glass on the counter and the woman narrowed her eyes; the glass was miniscule, barely holding more than a few millimetre of the drink. She looked at the tavern keeper, an irritated expression on her face.  
  
"I don't care how sure of yerself ye think ya are, I wanna know ye can handle yerself." He said stubbornly.  
  
The woman shrugged and gulped down the drink. The tavern keeper was surprised she didn't even flinch, but he never showed his astonishment. Without a word, he got a full-sized mug and filled it to the brim and then passed it to the lady.  
  
"Shall I be attending yer funeral tomorrow?" He asked jokingly.  
  
The woman smiled and took the glass and then slithered off to join her friends.  
  
Nina settled down on a chair and looked out at the band, they had just finished another song and it looked like one of them was going to speak.  
  
"This is an older one we found, but when we did we immediately thought of Draigan's new lady. Here's to you kids!" The bandleader said.  
  
The music began to play; the first two instruments were a piano and what looked like a string less harp, emitting a light from which came a continuous sound though varying in terms of notes. The piano played a repeating melody, rather soothing, almost and then someone on a xylophone joined in. This went on for a short while, people getting into the beat of the music, when suddenly it stopped leaving only the string less harp playing. The abruptness of it seemed to catch everyone off guard and then the xylophone and piano joined in again accompanied by someone on drums. The melody was the same as before except when they were about to hit the same point where the other instruments dropped off, instead of one instrument playing they all did, creating a marvellous symphony. People were obviously enjoying this part, their bodies moving to the beat, some even mimicked the movements of the musicians on their own air-based imaginary instruments. Abruptly the instruments dropped off again leaving the piano, string less harp, xylophone and drums playing a repetitive melody and abruptly again, there was only the piano and harp left. The xylophone re-joined for one last hurrah, the music seemed subdued as the music seemed to fade just as it had come. Everyone cheered and clapped, Nina thought of the music, how it seemed hostile, yet cuddly somehow and she wondered who this Draigan was and who his new lady could be. Jean came over to Bleu and Nina, his face seemed a little flushed with drink and Bleu laughed, she had never heard of anyone getting drunk off of Fairy Wine before, though with the amount of refills Jean had it might be possible.  
  
"Tres bien, don't you think? Not as good as ze Tunlan Players, but tres bien quand meme." Obviously he wasn't drunk enough to lose his accent.  
  
Nina agreed, the Tunlan Players were the most famous music group on the Inner Continent, the best in the world many said, but this little group certainly had it's charm. A hush descended upon the crowd as a young man stood upon the stage.  
  
"Awri', awri'" It was clear from his slurring and his faced that he was quite drunk. "Now why are we here? Itsh time ya found out doncha think? But we all know why, we here to celebrate Draigan'sh marriage! The lucky bashtard found himshelf a babe an' he'sh gonna marry even though hish da' shaysh no! But we, we shtand behind him, right?" The crowd roared its approval. "Why do we shtand behind him? Becaushe, we don agree with everything Elder Teepo shaysh and right now, it'sh becaushe most of us are too pish ashed drunk to care!"  
  
The young man jumped down from the stage and put a purple haired man in a headlock, kissing him on the head. A bleu haired woman jumped from her seat and playfully shoved the bigger man off the purple-haired one.  
  
"Get your own boyfriend, you drunkard!" She laughed.  
  
"I-I not ash think ash you drunk I am!" The bigger man replied, crashing down on a barstool.  
  
With great display, the young woman sat upon the purple-haired one's lap, swung her legs about his waist and kissed him sensually on the lips and he responded in kind, the crowd hooted and hollered at the display. Nina just sat there shocked in the realization that this purple-haired man was Draigan, but more shocking to her was that his wife-to-be was Yua. There was no doubt, even if she hadn't seen her before and the wings were a dead give away in this crowd of wingless dragons there was her hair and face, the family resemblance she bore to Ryu. Bleu looked at Nina and barely glanced at Yua, she was on her second mug of Dragon's Blood but didn't look even slightly tipsy. Jean had taken to singing ballads and reciting poetry to a young dragon woman he met. Bleu suddenly got up and pulled Nina out of her seat.  
  
"There's Yua, shall we go say hi?" Bleu smiled.  
  
Nina didn't have a chance to protest as she was dragged over to Yua who was standing and receiving congratulations from another young couple. Bleu tapped her on the shoulder and she turned to find a startled and embarrassed Nina shoved before her.  
  
"Um... Hi!" Nina said, unsure of herself.  
  
Yua looked at her for a moment, sized her up and then smiled in recognition.  
  
"Ah... You're the Windian woman who was traveling with my big bro. I didn't expect to see you here! Is Ryu here too?" She asked eagerly.  
  
"Um... well... We don't know where he is. We-we did come to bring you back though." Nina stuttered.  
  
"Ah... Now that could be a problem." Yua said almost sombrely. "As you know, I'm getting married soon and I really don't have a reason to leave."  
  
*******  
  
In the desert it is harder to tell which is better: hunting at night or hunting during the day. One could argue that the tracks are easier to follow during the day and that prey is easier to find because it is more active. One could also make the argument that night is better, because there is no sweltering heat and one does not have to chase one's prey. Of course, if one has a fur coat like Bow and Katt, the sweltering heat is truly the deciding factor. Katt and Bow raced across the desert landscape, they were able to see perfectly by the light of the moon and what they were tracking appeared rather large.  
  
"You sure you want to be here, Katt? I mean shouldn't you be resting or healing or something?" Bow asked, concerned.  
  
"I'm fine, I need some exercise to get rid of the stiffness of this leg. I once knew a guy who had a broken back, he spent the whole winter months resting in bed and when he had healed he found that he could barely move. He was never able to walk again. Besides, I can only stand Sten for so long before I start wanting to punch him in the face... a lot." Katt replied.  
  
Bow laughed softly, Katt and Sten had a sort of cat and mouse relationship, but they really good friends. Bow and Katt ran across the next dune, their prey was supposed to be there, but they found nothing.  
  
"That's strange... I could have sworn..." Katt started, but was interrupted by a sudden earthquake. "Gah! What the?"  
  
From beneath the sands a giant scorpion emerged, the sands running off it like water. The great behemoth dwarfed Katt and Bow.  
  
"I think I'm gonna need a bigger cross-bow." Bow whimpered as he stood before the monster.  
  
The giant scorpion took a swipe at Bow, who nimbly dodged; even for a man of his girth he could still move agilely when his life depended on it. The monstrosity roared as it turned towards Bow and attempted to chase him. Katt, using her staff, thwacked it several times, hoping to get its attention. Unfortunately for her, her plan worked, the scorpion turned its attentions toward her and grabbed her in one of its pincers and began to slowly crush her. Bow hurried to arm his crossbow with one of the special bolts he had received from the desert travellers, but he paused in his work for a brief moment to cast a spell.  
  
"Like a steel wall, tighten the defence, DEF_X!" He cast his defensive spell.  
  
Katt felt the pressure lighten somewhat as the spell was cast, but it was not enough to allow her to escape. Bow aimed his crossbow at the monster and fired. The bolt struck the scorpion's unguarded backside and the bolt exploded; the substance that filled the head of the bolt was very volatile and would detonate on heavy impact. The beast roared, dropped Katt and turned on Bow, who was readying another shot. Katt rose quickly to her feet and charged the monster. The scorpion halted and roared; Bow aimed at its open mouth and fired. The shot was perfect and the bolt entered the monsters mouth and a second later the monster blew up as the bolt exploded from the inside. Pieces of shell and scorpion meat flew everywhere and Bow saw Katt behind where the monster used to be. She was flat on her back and Bow rushed to her. She didn't appear to be injured as Bow examined her as she sat up.  
  
"Rather lucky that thing opened its big gob when it did huh?" Bow said.  
  
"Luck had nothing to do with it. I stuck it up the arse, is what happened." Katt laughed. "Now how can we get this stuff back to camp?"  
  
Authors Notes: Lookie a long chapter as a holiday present! Anyways, if you are wondering, the Hymn of Dragons is done to the music of Final Fantasy X's Hymn of the Fayth. The song that was played in the tavern is titled 'Hostile but Cuddly' and can be found on the Ocremix site under seiken densetsu 3 (yeah I know it isn't Breath of Fire, but I couldn't find any appropriate remixes of Breath of Fire for this)e-mail me if you want the URL. I had one major concern for this chapter and that is did I go overboard with Jean's French? I'm not sure he spoke that much French; I hope nobody minds too much. And yes there is a reason the elder's name is Teepo, but I'm not going to tell you why yet. 


	15. Shadowed Souls

Chapter 15: Shadowed Souls  
  
It is said that dragons are the harbingers of death and destruction, this may or may not be true; however, the fact remains that, regardless of whether they look for it or not, trouble tends to follow a dragon wherever it goes. Trouble has come and though it was not looking for a dragon it found one. In the mountains overlooking the Urkan City, the cloaked figure stood, beside him a dishevelled, decaying, hybrid monstrosity shuffled beside him.  
  
"The wretched lizard is here, I can smell his foul blood on the wind... And this time he shall be mine." Shax cackled. "Now go, destroy him, break him, tear him apart. Do not rest until he is worm food."  
  
The shambling creature bowed and burrowed into the earth leaving its master. Shax spread his hand before him, before his vision of the city. He made a fist, as though he would crush the city from his lofty position.  
  
"Kill them all if you have too, as long as he hurts, as long as he suffers, as long he BURNS. Fuhuhuhuhehehaha HA HA!" Shax laughed maniacally, visions of a burning city dancing in his broken mind.  
  
*******  
  
Ryu, Gaist and Garr entered the city of the Urkans, hot tired and sticky from their week in the desert patrolling for monsters. The sight that greeted them was not comforting at all: people ran this way and that, searching and were in a general state of panic. In what seemed a mass search of some sort, Jasmine spotted the trio and rushed towards them, hugging Ryu when she reached them.  
  
"Ah... I missed you so much. I'm glad you're okay!" She exclaimed, though there was no way to be sure if she spoke to the whole group or if her concern was for Ryu alone.  
  
"Nice to see you to Jas." Gaist said, his face full of concern for the city and its people.  
  
"What's going on here, did something happen while we were gone?" Garr asked voicing all their concerns.  
  
"The day after you left, the well dried up. That wasn't a great concern; we still have a great supply of water, but just today, all the children have vanished. Everybody is looking for them." There was no doubt that she was desperately worried as she recounted the events.  
  
Ryu pondered over her words, he'd heard them before he was sure of it.  
  
"Something wrong Ryu?" Gaist asked.  
  
"Nothing, just a little deja..." Ryu began.  
  
A memory hit him; he was standing in another city before a young woman who was in tears.  
  
"First the well dried up, then the children disappeared in the well and on top of all that there's a demon in the well." The memory woman said.  
  
"...Vu." Ryu finished, coming out of his memory dream state.  
  
Ryu pushed Jasmine off of him, not in an aggressive manor, but in a hurried one, and ran off towards the well.  
  
"You guys get Gaw, I'm heading for the well... Bring weapons!" Ryu shouted back as he ran.  
  
He got to the well quite quickly, his frantic look had evoked some concerned stares from people, but he wasn't paying much attention to them, he had to hurry, lives hung in the balance.  
  
The well was dark, but Ryu could see the bottom, barely. He was focused, searching for something; he knew not what, but he would know it when he saw it. He saw movement in the darkness of the well and he unsheathed his sword. Another small movement from within the darkness and Ryu leapt, jumping into the well.  
  
"BANZAI!" He cried as he turned his sword point towards the ground.  
  
An ant-like creature cried out in pain as Ryu's blade pierced its skull. Ryu's eyes adjusted to the darkness fast and it was a good thing they did; the ant-like Creon surrounded him. There were twenty of them, perhaps more; it was hard for Ryu to see much in the darkness.  
  
"You're ugly!" He said as he threw a dagger he had behind him, striking an advancing Creon.  
  
The monster reared back and shrieked, but a small setback like that was not going to dissuade its brothers from killing and devouring this intruder. Ryu pulled his sword out of the first monster and took a swing at the next that charged him. The Creon was knocked back but not seriously hurt as it and its brothers began to charge Ryu. Ryu in response swung his sword knocking as many back as he could, but he could never last, he was going to be overwhelmed. A Creon jumped at him from behind, there was no way for him to stop it.  
  
"KANUHESU!" (Geronimo) Gaist yelled as he dove down the well, the blade of his halberd severing the attacking Creon's thorax.  
  
Gaist used his Shippu Ken attack to push the Creon back even further.  
  
"You're an idiot... You do realize that don't you?" Gaist said to Ryu.  
  
"I admit that this isn't the smartest thing I've done, but in my defence, I knew you were coming." Ryu smirked.  
  
Ryu knocks more of the insect monsters away with his sword, but even with Gaist's help there wasn't much they could do against the hoard of bugs. At the wells mouth a crowd had gathered, many looking within the well, trying to see what was going on. Gaw and Garr arrived, pushing through the crowd.  
  
"Garr, disperse the crowd and I'll help them down there." Gaw said.  
  
"Right, I'll join you after that's done." Garr replied.  
  
"No you wont, it'll be crowded enough down there without you getting in the way." Gaw snarled.  
  
"I can fight, you'll need all the help you can get." Garr protested.  
  
"You'd just get in the way. Now go, disperse the crowd." Gaw said; the discussion obviously finished from his standpoint as he leapt into the well.  
  
"Yes sir." Garr growled as he went about his task.  
  
As he descended down the well, Gaw cast a light spell, which illuminated the interior. The Creon let out a collective shriek, many retreating into a large hole on a level above them. Ryu blinked seeing that the hole was, in fact, a doorway.  
  
"That's where they're coming from!" Ryu shouted, pointing to the doorway.  
  
Gaw took a swipe with his giant sword, slicing many of the Creon before him and Ryu; he had cleared a path to a ladder to the second level where the door was.  
  
"Go now, we'll take care of the insects." Gaw said.  
  
Gaw swung his sword again, clearing the path again and Ryu charged towards the ladder. Using one hand to hold his sword, he climbed his way up to the next level. As he neared the top another Creon tried to cut him off, literally, at the top. Thrusting upwards with his sword, Ryu was able to kill the insect, piercing the soft shell of its underside. Batting more Creon out of his way Ryu ran through the doorway.  
  
After a short while the corridor widened and actually became brighter. Luminescent moss, on either side of the corridor lit the way. However, that was not what caught Ryu's attention. The moss on the right wall was covering what looked like a mural of some sort and even stranger in his mind was the fact that this corridor was covered in bricks, completely un- decayed or damaged, despite the moisture and water that still remained in the well. He quickly tore down the moss from the wall, to see what was covered. His first opinion had been right: it was indeed a mural. There were nine people in the mural; an ox-man, fish man, a human thief, A woman with a snake tail for legs, a woman with white wings, a forest clansman, a mole clansman, a man with blue hair and a demon girl with many white snake tendrils, whom everybody else in the mural appeared to be attacking. The mural appeared familiar, somehow, to Ryu like he had seen it in a book or something. He could not help but feel that he resembled the blue haired man in the mural, just a bit.  
  
Dismissing these thoughts Ryu continued on and came to an immense cavern with a horrific sight: a huge Terrapin lay sleeping; it was a decomposing, putrid, foul, disgusting, smelly, undead creature. Ryu glanced about the cavern and saw the children, tied up in a web-like substance, but they appeared all right. Ryu crept over to the children and made motions for silence. He cut them loose, one after another making sure they got out. After the last child was set free something above them let loose a fearsome shrieking. A figure plummeted from above landing upon Ryu. The creature seemed a decomposing hybrid between a human and a Creon; it had extra arms, a hard carapace and part of its head was like that of a Creon but it was mostly still human. It reeked of death and disease, Ryu tried to push it off of him, but to no avail.  
  
"Draaaaaagooooon Booooooooy." The thing hissed.  
  
It opened its mouth and acidic drool dropped out form its mouth next to Ryu's head. Then, the great Terrapin opened its large red eye and Ryu despaired: there was no way he could defeat both the monster atop of him and the undead Terrapin. He didn't want to die like this; he couldn't, he still had things to do. This anger, despair and desire to live burned within him and this burning feeling began to increase. His body began to glow and the creature atop him was suddenly thrown off. Ryu could feel his mind slipping beneath a greater power, one he could not control.  
  
In the other room, Gaw had defended the children that had come through the doorway and Gaist still held the monsters away from the rope ladder that Garr had set up, the path was clear for the children to escape. Suddenly the ground shook and all battle with the Creon ceased. The insects seemed afraid and cautious, many of them desperately trying to get past Gaw to what the insects must have thought was safety. Until an inhuman roar sounded from the doorway. Gaw jumped out of the way as the last child ran through and made his way up the ladder. Just as Gaw moved, a powerful stream of water poured forth from the doorway and carried an unconscious Ryu with it. The water decimated, if not flat out killed many the remaining Creon. The water level of the well was still very low, being only a few feet in height and it did not look like any more water was forthcoming.  
  
"What the hell was that?" Gaist said as he looked down on Ryu.  
  
***********  
  
"What the hell is this?" Ryu said as he looked around at his current location.  
  
He was dreaming again, the world about him was a sea of stars and he stood on nothing but air.  
  
"We meet again Ryu." A disembodied voice said. It was male, commanding and sounded as though it came from all places at once. "Do you remember me?"  
  
"You're Ladon, the Dragon God." Ryu said.  
  
"Oh I see: you're the Ryu that remembers everything." Ladon said.  
  
"Hey, could you cut it out with the omniscient narrator bit? I prefer to look at people in the face when I talk to them." Ryu said looking around.  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes, I'm sure. What's the problem? What's the big secret?" Ryu said, growing annoyed.  
  
"Big? Yes I'd say that 'Big' is the operative word here." Ladon said, making his appearance to Ryu.  
  
Ryu was in shock as he found himself in the palm of a giant hand. The hand was attached to a giant cloaked figure. Ryu found he couldn't say a word faced with this new situation.  
  
"Well, imagine that... I've shocked the kid speechless, someone alert the bards. As interesting as this is, I can see you need a more manageable perspective." Ladon said as he deposited Ryu on a nearby asteroid in this sea of stars.  
  
Ladon shrank down to a six-foot tall, cloaked figure and was standing before Ryu.  
  
"Is this better?" The dragon god asked.  
  
Ryu responded to this by punching the god solidly across the face. Ladon, in this human-looking form, went sprawling to the ground. The hood of his cloak went back, revealing a handsome young man with brown hair, brown eyes and a melancholy expression.  
  
"Guess not." The god said, wiping blood from his mouth.  
  
"You bastard... Because of you I lost everything; Mother, father, Yua, Katt... EVERYTHING! For you and your damned crusade." Ryu growled.  
  
"Now think about what you've just said..." Ladon said as he stood up, dusting himself off. "Your father's still alive and you came to the Outer Continent to find Yua... As for your mother... she did what all good mothers do: she protected her children. She had the choice and she made the only one she could... As for you, I never asked anything of you as you never asked anything of me, save to watch over you, as a god should. She's manipulating you."  
  
Ryu felt faint and he wondered how he could feel faint in a dream. He put a hand to his head and swooned as he closed his eyes. If he had been watching himself, he would have seen the humanoid mist creature that embraced him. And then, everything slipped away; his anger, his memories and it left only confusion. Opening his eyes he looked around and saw only darkness: no Ladon, no sea of stars or asteroids, only darkness.  
  
"Who is there?" A voice demanded from behind Ryu.  
  
Ryu turned to see an old man in shining white robes looking about. Though the man can see quite well, he was looking about as though he could not see Ryu, his gaze passing over where Ryu stood many times. To Ryu's eyes, there was something sinister about this old man, that he should neither speak out or attempt to approach him.  
  
"Vermin... I know there is someone here and you shall regret following me." The old man said.  
  
Suddenly the old man became liquid flame, melting into the darkness. The flames spread, burning, destroying everything in their path or at least it would have had there been anything in its path. But there was Ryu and the flames consumed him. He could feel himself burning up, burning away. And he screamed, crying out in pain.  
  
***********  
  
Ryu awoke with a scream. He found himself in bed in Urka and Jasmine was in the next room, sound asleep. The sheets had been pushed aside and he was soaked in sweat. He also felt like he was burning up. He got up and staggered to the bathroom. He turned the water on. If he had been thinking clearly he would have wondered where running water came from in the desert. If he had been thinking clearly he might have wondered where this water came from since the well had dried up. As it stood, he was too tried, too hot and his mind was too clouded to think of such questions. He placed his hands in the full sink, to douse water on his face, but he retracted his hands with a cry. The water felt like ice and mist came off of his hands. He looked back at the water and saw it was boiling where it wasn't a moment ago. He looked in the mirror above the sink and saw the transparent face of a red dragon fading in and out, overlapping his own features. He felt tired, as though some great power within him raged to get out and he was no longer strong enough to fight it. He felt his body burning and he cried out before passing out.  
  
Jasmine was awoken, not by Ryu's cry, but rather by some sense that he was in trouble; as though someone whispered in her ear that he was in pain. She got up and looked in Ryu's room, seeing he was not there, she grew even more concerned. Frantically, desperately, she looked in the other rooms, finding Ryu, at last, in the bathroom.  
  
"RYU!!" She cried seeing him unconscious.  
  
She rushed to him trying to shake him out of his comatose state, but pulled away as she burned her hands on his skin. She looked shocked and increasingly worried. Sh ran to the door of her little home and began to cry out.  
  
"HELP ME! SOMEBODY PLEASE!" She yelled.  
  
Gaw jumped from the guard tower and flew down to her. Many lights of many homes turned on to see what the commotion was about.  
  
"What is it? What's the matter?" Gaw demanded.  
  
Jasmine said nothing, her eyes pleaded him to follow and follow he did. When he found Ryu on the ground he too tried to touch the fallen boy. Gaw could feel the heat but he was not harmed by it. He lifted Ryu into his arms and carried him toward the temple.  
  
"Don't worry, I'll make sure he gets help." Gaw said to Jasmine to ease her fears.  
  
Author Notes: The part of Ladon in this chapter was played by Keith, who is the property of Keith. You know, I wonder if people mind if I only update like once a month... But my real concern is that people look at the first chapter see it's a 'Katt&Ryu' story and refuse to look any further. I probably lose lots of readers only because I didn't put in their favourite pairings. 


	16. Hurt Souls

Chapter 16: Hurt Souls  
  
Beneath the temple of the Urkans, there lay a small chamber with a statue of the goddess. In the centre of the room was a stone table and, currently, Ryu was atop it, unconscious. Metal straps restrained him at his wrists and ankles and he writhed in agony as energy flowed through his body, but despite pain he did not awaken. At equidistant points, the three masked priests, Buliarus, Kilanirax and Serpentarius, stood each holding a staff from which energy flowed into Ryu and into the other staffs; creating a triangular barrier. Within the barrier, by Ryu's side was the Sudama. He chanted in an ancient arcane language, his hands motioning above Ryu's chest. A bright light erupted from Ryu's chest and a small glass rose out of him. Within the orb was a flickering flame, even without oxygen it burned brightly. The Sudama levitated the orb over to the statue of the Goddess where it settled next to a similar orb, which had lightning within it.  
  
"Another of the vile brood's power has been removed, soon this child shall be free of its destructive influence." The Goddess Myria said, though she could not be seen. "Remove the next one; the strongest of the violent Brood powers, Anfini, will not hold this innocent child much longer."  
  
"But milady, removing another Brood power so soon may damage him." The Sudama pleaded.  
  
"Do not question me, Sudama. The child is strong; he will persevere. Removing the destructive Brood influence must be our first priority." She said, her voice melodious.  
  
"By milady's will." Sudama said and he and the three masked priests resumed chanting.  
  
Energy flowed from Bulliarus' staff to Serpentarius' and from Serpenatrius' staff into Kilanirax's staff. The triad energy then flowed into Ryu's body and still bound, he writhed. A small glass orb began to rise out of his chest and as it did, mist exploded off of its icy surface, as though extreme hot air and extreme cold air met. The mist's disruptive appearance distracted the Sudama and he raised his hands to protect his face. The orb rose out of Ryu's chest, unguided by the Sudama's mystic chants and gestures. It had what appeared to be a sliver of ice within it. The orb rose, the priests stopped their chanting, the spell disrupted, the energy dissipated and, as all things that rise do, the orb fell. The Sudama caught the orb in his hands and he cried out in pain, dropping the orb. Kilanirax rushed to the Sudama and examined his hands.  
  
"Frozen..." The bird-masked one said.  
  
The Sudama's hands were rimed with frost, so cold that they might break if handled roughly. Delicately chanting over the Sudama's frozen hands, Kilanirax repaired the damage. Serpentarius picked up the orb and sustained no damage at all, though mist still peeled off the orb. He placed it alongside the other two at the base of the Goddess' statue.  
  
"Sudama... Complete your work, remove the final brood power than we can save the heart of this child from the ever-consuming blood-thirst of Anfini." The Goddess spoke.  
  
"Milady... I am sorry, but I cannot recast the spell again so soon. Not only would the trauma kill the boy we wish to save, but my own body and soul would be torn asunder as well. I am sorry, Most Holy... I have failed you." The Sudama, tired and defeated, lowered his head in shame awaiting his Goddess' punishment.  
  
Myria let out a melodious laugh and the Sudama raised his eyes to face the statue of the Goddess. Her phantasmal self stepped down from the statue and kissed the Sudama on his forehead. Elation and blessed ecstasy filled his being as he knew she did not feel he had failed.  
  
"Kilanirax, return the Sudama to his apartments. He shall need his rest, for on the morrow he will perform another Ceremony of Guardianship." The Goddess said.  
  
Kilanirax escorted the Sudama out of the chamber, being very gentle with the elder Sudama. The shackles that bound the unconscious Ryu vanished and Buliarus moved to remove him from the table.  
  
"Hold, Buliarus." The Goddess said, blocking his path. "I must bind them once more together before you return him."  
  
From the shadows, behind the Goddess' statue a figure emerged. It was Jasmine; her eyes were half closed and glassy as though she did not see anything around her. She walked over to the table and remained at Ryu's side awaiting Myria's will.  
  
************  
  
The dawn following, everyone was gathering at the temple in the centre of the city once more. Another Ceremony of Guardianship was to be held, the previous night's concerns, that is to say the incident where Ryu fell unconscious, was swiftly forgotten by those who knew. The Ceremony itself would not begin for hours; however, they first had to see Gaw and his caravan off. They would arrive at the port of Kombinat, but they would also be the last ship to the Inner Continent. The question on everybody's mind was how would the Sudama get them all to the port if they weren't leaving today. There was another rumour as well; the three masked priests were not going to stay in the city after everyone was gone, but rather were going to return to Myria's holy city of Caer Xhan. These changes in a plan that had been formulated generations ago worried the people, but their fears were lessened by this ceremony. However, not all were going to be in attendance: Ryu and Jasmine were going to stay in their apartment.  
  
"I'd rather avoid another fainting spell if that's okay." Ryu had said jokingly.  
  
"What about you Jasmine? You are the one who usually sings the opening hymn." Garr said.  
  
"Well, someone has to make sure nothing happens to Ryu right? So I'll be staying here too." She said.  
  
"But it..." Garr began.  
  
"Drop it Garr." Gaist said jovially. "I don't mind if they aren't there. It's not a big deal."  
  
Garr and Gaist had walked away without much argument. Garr felt that since it was Gaist's ceremony it was his decision. However, there was something about all this that felt... wrong in his mind.  
  
"This has to be a bad omen." Garr thought he had spoke quietly to himself.  
  
Gaist laughed out loud at his friend's comments as they walked to the temple; the streets were not crowded, as everyone had already taken a place at the temple.  
  
"I make my own luck and I don't rely on omens to dictate my actions." Gaist said.  
  
Garr took his place among the crowd and Gaist took his place on the empty walkway, preparing to ascend the steps to the dais. The last note of the hymn sounded, to his and Garr's ears it sounded off-key, simply not right. Gaist stood before the raise circular stone and awaited the Sudama's ceremonial questions.  
  
"Will you follow the Goddess' will, Her desire and Her will?" The Sudama intoned.  
  
"I will." Gaist said solemnly.  
  
"Will you follow Her into fire, will you follow Her into darkness, will you follow Her into death?" The Sudama asked.  
  
"I will." Gaist replied.  
  
"Then follow." The Sudama beckoned.  
  
Gaist stepped onto the stone and light erupted from beneath the dais. It became a column of flame and though it visibly touched him, he did not burn. Suddenly, to his perspective, he was not on the dais, but before a great golden throne in a world of light. Upon the throne sat an indescribably beautiful woman with golden blond hair and two pairs of wings. This was the lady Myria, Gaist recognized her from the statues and books he had seen with her likeness painted in them. The radiant goddess rose from her throne and approached him.  
  
"You have come to me today to become a Guardian." She said. It was a statement of fact.  
  
"To better serve the people and you, milady." Gaist replied.  
  
"You do not believe you need my power to protect them." Another statement.  
  
"If we have to rely on another to protect us or to help protect us, than we are not worthy of that aid." He replied.  
  
"Everyone needs help sometimes. This is what I have asked of you, would you defy me?" She asked, mildly amused.  
  
"Of course not Milady, this is merely my way of thinking. If I cannot rely on my own strength, then what would be the point of relying on the strengths of others?" Gaist smiled.  
  
"Quite the consummate soldier... Which is why you make an excellent candidate for Guardian. As you are different from the others, so shall your form be different. Go and follow my will with my blessings, Guardian Gaist." She said.  
  
The white light of the area brightened and for a moment he could not see. When he could see, he saw he was again in the temple and he saw that he had changed; his body had grown more muscular than it had, not as much as Gatz or Gaw, but he was not weaker than they. His skin had turned the colour of grey stone and was more durable than steel. He had wings and a draconic face, but his own mind had not changed, he was still Gaist. The crowd waited expectantly for him to do something. He materialized his Beast Spear and raised it. The crowd roared and he made a vow to himself, silently, that no matter what, he would protect these people, his people. Gaist also remembered what Ryu had said about the Goddess and this ceremony the last time it was held and he smiled.  
  
"Perhaps not hokum after all." He whispered to himself.  
  
*************  
  
Weeks after traveling through the desert, centuries, maybe even millennia of a nomadic life, the travelers had at long last found the oasis in which they would settle. This oasis lay within sight of the machine city called Caer Xhan, which was once their ancestral home. They made it to the oasis and took not one step more, their journey done. This infuriated Katt; they had come so far and they were stopping right before the city that they once inhabited, she just couldn't understand them.  
  
"So, explain it to me." Rand said as they walked away from the village the nomads were constructing. "Why are we going to visit an abandoned city?"  
  
"Don't look at me." Sten replied. " I'm just the comedy relief."  
  
"We're going to the city 'cause I wanna know why they don't wanna go any further." Katt said leading the way.  
  
"And we're here to keep her out of Trouble." Bow smirked.  
  
To the east was a small group of warehouses, but Katt wasn't particularly interested in those. The once great city of Caer Xhan lay before them, its streets broken, many of its buildings destroyed and there was no evidence that anyone remained there. The breeze of the desert wind was the only sound as it blew over fallen stone and whistled through open windows.  
  
"Okay, we're here. Now what?" Bow asked.  
  
"We split up and see what there is to see. We'll meet in the middle of the city in a few hours, okay?" Katt said as she dashed off.  
  
"I call dibs on any shiny treasure you find!" Sten cried out as he dashed off in another direction.  
  
"I guess I'll check to see if they have any armouries or weapon shops." Bow said nonchalantly.  
  
"Whatever. I'll... just wander, I guess." Rand said.  
  
Katt had wandered into one of the less trashed areas of the city and for the most part it looked like the people had just dropped what they were doing and left. She entered one of the buildings, looking for clues as to what happened. It was school, all the desks were still perfectly lined up and there were even some books still open, though many were illegible from years of dust and neglect. She walked over to one of the desks and looked at the underlined paragraph in the book; it must have been what was being studied at the time. Katt hadn't learned to read until the last two years, there simply hadn't been any reason for it; survival had been the focus of her life and things like reading and writing simply had no place. Then she met Ryu and had a child with him and reading and writing was something she learned because it was interesting and Ryu could teach it, being a pastor's son.  
  
"Most human sc-scholars believe that the Gobi Clan are the survivors of a sunken city, humans ad-ap-ted to the water." She read aloud; she was still learning to read after all. "The Gobi Clan, how-ever, believe that humans sp-sprang for-th from Gobi Clansmen who ad-ap-ted themselves in order to explore their last fron-tier."  
  
Looking at this classroom, imagining the children learning about history and she wondered what history would say about her and Ryu. She wanted her son to learn to read and write; she wanted him to have a better life than she did, one of peace without fighting. At least part of her did, the fighting instinct was always a part of Worren blood, even more than it was in other Clans.  
  
'The path of least resistance will seldom lead you beyond your doorstep.' Her mentor, the one who raised her after her parents died, had once said.  
  
"Stupid scholars... Gobi Clan doesn't look anything like humans." She murmured to herself.  
  
On the other side of town, Sten was looking through broken shops for things that might be of value: a souvenir for his betrothed. He found himself in a shop that sold, what looked to him, thin, shiny disks with holes through the centre of them. He picked one up and bi down on it, he then spit it out.  
  
"Bleh... Definitely not edible." He said.  
  
He went over to the counter, where there were many disks, panels and buttons. Out of simple curiosity he pressed a button and music began to play. It was disjointed, fragmented, but still very enjoyable.  
  
"Hey, nifty." Sten said, lamenting that he could not return home with this device.  
  
Bow had indeed found a weapon shop and it was badly damaged; remnants of weapons, ammo and armour were strewn everywhere. He walked past the debris and picked up a black metal crossbow and examined it.  
  
"What's this? Where do they put the bolts for this thing?" He asked as he examined it.  
  
There was no place to put the bolts though it looked like a regular crossbow. There was, however, a square slot on the back of it. Looking around the shop, he saw a case marked 'Crysm magazines' and he picked up a rectangular cartridge and slid it into the crossbow.  
  
"Weird thing..." He said.  
  
At the meeting place Rand waited for the others; he had seen everything he wanted to of this place. The destruction and desolation of the city were depressing, at least in his mind. In his musings, he did not notice a figure in the shadows observing him. Rand's thoughts were interrupted as Katt, Bow and Sten came from their explorations.  
  
"Find anything interesting?" Rand asked.  
  
"They had to learn weird stuff in school." Katt said. She didn't seem to be paying attention, but rather distracted but some smell she found in the air.  
  
"I found a new weapon... Not sure if it works though." Bow said, displaying his new crossbow.  
  
"I found music playing, disk thingies, but I can't take 'em home with me." Sten sighed, a little bored.  
  
"In other words, zilch, zero and zipall, right?" Rand smirked. "The places is so rundown, I'd have been surprised if you actually did find something... Katt? Something wrong?"  
  
Katt was sniffing the air as she walked around the trio. Suddenly she dashed passed them and around a corner.  
  
"RYU!?" She cried out.  
  
Rand, Bow and Sten could merely stand there gaping at what they heard. And then the Wanderer, who was being hugged fiercely by Katt, rounded the corner.  
  
"Call me crazy, but unless Ryu got real old, real fast, I don't think that's him." Sten said.  
  
"Not that Ryu, stupid." Katt said, sticking out her tongue at Sten. "He's also named Ryu, he's the guy who raised me. Funny, huh?"  
  
"Yeah... Funny... Right, whatever you say." Bow said, nodding his head slowly.  
  
"I don't know about you guys, but I just don't believe in coincidence anymore." Sten whispered to Rand.  
  
"Coincidence? What's that?" Rand said sarcastically.  
  
"Well, Pretty Kitty, it seems you've found yourself some good friends." The Wanderer laughed.  
  
"'Pretty Kitty'?" Sten stared at Katt.  
  
"It's a nickname!" Katt blushed.  
  
"So what are you doing out here... er, Ryu?" Rand asked awkwardly.  
  
"Call me Wanderer, if it's too confusing for you. I came to bring you back to your friends. Though at the moment, I'm here to warn you about that." The Wanderer pointed behind them.  
  
They turned and they saw, charging towards them: a large mechanical dog, a guardian of the city. The mechanized mutt was easily taller than Rand, who only came up to its shoulder. The thing charged and Rand darted out of its way. It screeched to a halt and swatted Sten away like was a pitiful insect.  
  
"Why me?" He said, before he passed out.  
  
The Wanderer was blocking the mech-dog's blows with his sword, Katt was trying to look for an opening and Rand held back, what he was waiting for, even he was not sure of. Bow aimed his new crossbow and fired. The crossbow sparked and a continuous barrage of energy shots fired. However, when he released the trigger the crossbow did not stop firing because the trigger was stuck. The mech-dog, seemed unaffected by these attacks, but it was more or less annoyed. It turned on Bow and as it did so, it's tail hit the Wanderer, sending him flying. It snapped at Bow, biting his crossbow in half. Bow jumped back into the building behind him and the entrance collapsed. Now Katt found herself the object of this mechanical menace's ire.  
  
'Damn... I can't use my dragon powers now, we're too close to Myria's power base.' The Wanderer thought.  
  
Rand simply stood there and watched as the behemoth approached Katt, what stopped him from saving her? A memory of his mother getting crushed by the wall trap in Evrai froze him. Fighting brought destruction and death to the ones you loved, but if he did nothing, Katt would die.  
  
'Don't just stand there, knucklehead, save her!' A voice, that sounded remarkably like his mother's, yelled in his head.  
  
He decided then that he would lose no one else. He tucked himself into a ball and hurtled himself into the mech-dog. The impact threw the machine off its feet and Rand rose to his feet, getting ready to fight again. The dog, a dent in its side from Rand's hit, rose and charged at Rand. Rand unleashed an uppercut with his right fist and used his left hook to floor the behemoth. He drove his fist into the machine's skull and it caved in, wires and circuits sparking. Even though the beast was down, Rand did not stop attacking, he punched over and over again. An immense rage was being unleashed from within him, one he had buried since he had seen his mother die. A hand held his back and he turned, rage in his eyes, to see whom the interloper was. It was Katt; she had a look of desperate concern and a hint of fear in her eyes.  
  
"Rand... stop, its dead... Just stop." She begged, pleaded, desperately.  
  
He stopped and looked at his fists: the knuckles were bloody. For the first time since his mother's funeral, he shed tears for his mother.  
  
"Ugh... did anybody see the super sludge that ran me over?" Sten said, groggily on his feet.  
  
"Well that piece of junk wasn't of much use. I prefer the traditional crossbow anyways." Bow said, referring to the weapon the mech-dog had just eaten.  
  
"No sense in staying here." The Wanderer said as he placed his hand on Rand's shoulder. "Come on, I'll get you back to the rest of your group very quickly."  
  
"How?" Katt asked, relieved that Rand had calmed down.  
  
"There's a teleporter in the warehouse area southeast of here that connects to the Dragon's City. From there finding your friends should be no problem" He replied.  
  
"Teleporter? You know how to use it?" Bow asked cautiously.  
  
"Well... Sort of." The Wanderer smirked.  
  
"Sort of? Oh joy... we're all gonna die!" Sten despaired.  
  
Authors notes: I guess I really can't complain about my readership; I have lots of people who read and review it. And I haven't gotten a single flame yet (knock on wood). Just to clear something up: the Wanderer's arms and weapons are the dragon equipment. When I passed Breath of Fire 2 for the first time, I never found the dragon equipment, thus I assumed at the time that it wasn't in this game and I maintained that view when I started writing this fic two years ago. However, I have found that the dragon equipment can be found in the final dungeon of Infinity. I've never found this out for myself, so I continue to write as though the Wanderer never gave up his dragon equipment. 


	17. Found Souls

Chapter 17: Found Souls  
  
In the dragon city, there was a structure. Calling it a temple would not be accurate as no deity was worshiped there. However, those of the Dark Dragon Clan who saw this prominent building were reminded of the emperor Zog, who used ancient technology to send his people away before the Dragon of Light defeated him. In a way, the massive complex was used for worship, much as the tombs of fallen and nameless soldiers were revered and respected for their sacrifice. On this day however, the building was lit up as a beam of light descended upon it. This sudden change in the status quo shook the people out of their collective routines as a crowd began to gather at the entrance. Nina and her group, which had been staying in the city since their arrival there, approached the building and were promptly shoved out of the way by the Elder Teepo and his entourage. The imperious, cold elder walked to the entrance and was nearly run over by Sten, whose hand was over his mouth; he looked panicked. Sten ran into a corner and promptly threw-up. Katt, Rand, Bow and the Wanderer exited the building next; Katt was shuddering, perhaps from disgust, maybe from anger, because her feet were covered in a multi-coloured vomit.  
  
"He THREW-UP on me!" She cried out.  
  
"It was just a little teleportation sickness." The Wanderer said, trying to calm her down.  
  
"Highlanders were not meant... hau-haughhhhhhhhh" Sten tried to say, succeeding only in throwing up again. "Not meant to have our bodies blasted all over the world. If you want to get somewhere you ride a horse, or walk, or take a bird, or a boat, or, hell, you even take that overgrown fish! But teleportation?! It's an unproven magic at best! I don't wanna end up like no Sten-fly! I've heard stories about how those spells can mess up! If it failed, I'd end up with my head on a fly's body trapped in a spider web going 'Help me, Help meeeeeee'!"  
  
"What about my warp magic, Sten?" Bleu asked smiling.  
  
"Well that's different, it's... BLEU!" Sten said, when he turned to see who spoke.  
  
The Wanderer had been speaking with the elder Teepo and the latter didn't seem too happy with what the former said. The Wanderer turned his attention from the grizzled elder to Bleu.  
  
"I didn't know you were here. You guys go catch up with your friends, we have some things to discuss." The Wanderer said, waving Katt, Rand, Bow and Sten away.  
  
The four went into the city as the crowd began to disperse; it seemed that this was nothing out of the ordinary for the citizens as they went about their business once more.  
  
"Guys over here!" Nina called out from the ebbing crowd.  
  
Jean engulfed Sten in a hug as the group reunited and began retelling their respective stories.  
  
"So where's Ryu?" Katt asked.  
  
Nina and Jean looked at each other and then back at Katt. Rand's face and hopes fell, Bow turned away and Sten was simply not paying attention.  
  
"He's... he's not with us. We were hoping he was with you..." Nina said as she tried to look anywhere but directly at Katt.  
  
"If he's not with you... and not with me... no... NO!" Katt cried out, her eyes brimming with tears. "Ryu... Ryu can't be dead... I would feel it, wouldn't I?"  
  
Katt fell into Nina's arms; Nina bit her lip holding back tears of her own.  
  
"After everything we've been through... Its really hard to believe you're gone, Ryu." Bow said.  
  
Just across the street, Yua heard the whole exchange and she dropped the bottle she was holding. Being away from her family wasn't that big of a deal, she knew they would always be waiting for her, but now her big brother wasn't going to be around anymore. She put a hand to her mouth and tried to choke back tears. Draigan looked at her and thought about whom they had been talking. He walked over to Katt and Nina with Yua behind him.  
  
"Ummm... Excuse me, but does this 'Ryu' have blue hair?" He asked them.  
  
"Yeah... he did. What about it?" Bow asked.  
  
"Well, I think I may have seen him. He was in the company of some of the Urkan folk." Draigan replied.  
  
"R-really?" Katt asked, hope in her eyes.  
  
When Draigan nodded in the affirmative, Yua smacked his arm and demanded to know why he didn't tell her that her brother had been there.  
  
"I didn't know he was your brother at the time and you weren't around." He said sheepishly.  
  
"Great... Now we have to go hunt him down all over the desert. I really don't like the desert, my fur gets all sticky." Sten complained.  
  
Katt whacked Sten upside the head, she had an angry expression but her eyes were still brimmed with tears.  
  
"At least we know he's alive. Now all we have to do is find him." She said.  
  
"Oh I wouldn't worry about that." Bleu said slithering up behind them.  
  
"Care to fill us in, Bleu?" Rand asked.  
  
"Well, a couple of days ago a caravan from the Urkan city came through here on their way to the Inner Continent. Ryu is coming with the last group and he will be passing through here in the next couple of days. All we have to do is wait and watch." She said matter-of-factly.  
  
"How do you know this anyways?" Nina asked.  
  
"Come on guys, drinks are on me!" Bleu said, slithering towards the tavern.  
  
"Stop changing the subject when I ask you these things!" Nina yelled after Bleu.  
  
***************  
  
A week had come and gone since the last caravan had left the Urkan city and now the last vestiges of people were preparing to leave what was once their home. However, there was no caravan prepared for them, no horses and carriages waited their time of travelling. This was seen as an oddity and things that were considered out of the ordinary worried the people; the Sudama always spoke to calm them and even though there was an underlying nervousness, the people put their faith and trust in the Goddess and the Sudama who spoke as Her mortal voice. Ryu, however, had other things on his mind; for instance, a hollow and empty feeling that had been steadily increasing since his stay with the Urkans and it had increased a great deal more just before Gaist's ceremony. He felt drained, tired but found solace in Jasmine's close company.  
  
"Are you all right?" She asked as she packed away the last of her things.  
  
Neither she nor any Urkan had many things, materialism got in the way of worship of the Goddess. What she did have would fit in one bag and as Ryu had nothing but the clothes on his back, he did not have to pack at all. He looked over to her from his seat on his bed. He still seemed pale from when Gaw had returned him after the fainting incident the day before Gaist's ceremony.  
  
"I'm not sure... I feel like there's an emptiness inside me and its getting bigger, like it'll consume me." He said, placing a hand over his heart.  
  
She cast her eyes downward, placed her bag on the ground, walked over to him and sat beside him.  
  
"You're a strong person, you'll figure out what's missing and fill that void." She said with a slight smile taking his hand in hers.  
  
He looked over at her and smiled slightly.  
  
"Will you help me?" He asked.  
  
She nodded putting a hand to his cheek. Her short red hair, her emerald eyes, these things eased the void in his being, but caused him pain as well. For some reason, which escaped him, she reminded him of someone or something he'd lost, but he couldn't remember what or who. He drew his face closer to hers; she drew closer to him and, after a moment's hesitation, they kissed each other. It was a soft kiss, delicate and full of emotion. It was also interrupted by a knock on the door. They pulled away from each other and Jasmine's alabaster pale face flushed red with embarrassment.  
  
"It's time to go. Are you two ready?" Garr called from the other side of the door.  
  
Jasmine stood up and retrieved her bag. She looked at Ryu over her shoulder, a shy smile on her lips.  
  
"Shall we go?" She asked.  
  
"Sure." He sighed.  
  
They went outside and were surprised as the people gathered outside the temple. It was a small crowd, maybe thirty people or so. They joined Garr who was entering the temple last, waiting for them.  
  
"Why are we going to the temple, Garr? Is there going to be some prayer ceremony or some such before we leave?" Ryu asked.  
  
"No, actually it's through the temple that we shall get to Kombinat." Garr replied.  
  
"But how is this possible?" Jasmine asked, perplexed. "The temple is only for the Guardian Ceremonies isn't it?"  
  
"I can answer that one." Gaist said as they reached the entrance. "The temple is actually a sort of teleporter. The dais can magically take you from here to another place with an identical device."  
  
The four watched as group of people got onto the dais and a light erupted from beneath them. The people disappeared and the light died down. It was Ryu, Jasmine, Garr and Gaist's turn. Jasmine took Ryu's hand as they stepped onto the dais and a bright light erupted from beneath them.  
  
***************  
  
A beam of light descended from the heavens and struck the teleporter building in the dragon's city; the people were used to it now as there had been such incidents going on all day and the novelty had worn off after the first of such incidents several days ago when Katt's group had come to their city. Ryu, Jasmine, Garr and Gaist, the last Urkans to leave, exited the building and looked around.  
  
"Now if this thing was this fast, why didn't they use it before?" Ryu asked.  
  
Gaist shrugged, indicating he didn't know the answer. Jasmine still held onto Ryu's arm and to those around them it would seem to be a lover's touch, but to Ryu it felt wrong somehow. The second he had stepped off the platform in the building he had felt this wrongness as well as a feeling of anticipation, as though something was going to happen. He had felt this way once before, in the company of the man called the Wanderer.  
  
"I'll be headed to Kombinat. Are you going to come?" Garr asked.  
  
"Look around, there are people about. I'm going to stick around, enjoy the sights before we leave." Gaist said.  
  
"We'll probably never see this place again, so why not?" Ryu shrugged.  
  
"I'm staying with Ryu." Jasmine said, still holding his hand.  
  
"Suit yourselves. I'll see you later then." Garr waved as he left.  
  
"What's wrong with him?" Ryu asked Gaist.  
  
"Oh, he doesn't like it here. He thinks the people here may be the great enemy that some of the priests always harp about." Gaist replied with an unconcerned tone.  
  
"And what about you?" Jasmine asked.  
  
"They've got good ale, so they can't be all bad." Gaist smirked, or at least he tried to; in with his draconic visage it was more like a toothy grin.  
  
The trio began to explore the main market, but Ryu felt odd; like something in his mind was about to burst.  
  
"Hey, Ryu, you okay?" Gaist asked.  
  
Jasmine let go off Ryu's hand as he leaned up against a wall, rubbing his eyes.  
  
"I'm fine, just a little dizzy. No problem." Ryu replied.  
  
"Ryu, you rest here. We'll keep exploring and come back for you later." Gaist offered.  
  
"But what if he's sick, maybe we should take him to a doctor?" Jasmine said worriedly.  
  
"Ryu, what do you think?" Gaist asked.  
  
"Its probably nothing, like you said. You guys go on, I'll catch up." Ryu waved them off.  
  
Gaist dragged Jasmine away who was protesting slightly, but she eventually conceded to leaving Ryu. For his own part, Ryu looked around, searching for something that may have been the cause of his sudden malaise. He felt that there was something here that was prodding his unconscious self, the self that remembered, to try and resurface.  
  
A short distance behind him, Katt was examining some merchandise. She had been depressed these last few days, waiting for Ryu to arrive. That day, however, was different. She felt light-hearted; as though she knew something special was gong to happen that day. She had a tingling sensation that ran up and down her spine and her tail writhed in anticipation of... something; she wasn't quite sure what. She sighed in annoyance as the feeling irritated her more than anything. She turned and stopped, before her was Ryu and for a brief moment she feared to blink, for she as certain that if she did he would disappear. Her eyes began to tear and she couldn't move; he was a vision to her, a part of her that she couldn't live without.  
  
"RYU!!" She cried out.  
  
Ryu turned at the sound of his name and was tackled by Katt. The force of her impact sent them both into the air, crashing to the ground her embracing him. But for Ryu, as they were in the air, time slowed as the dam in his mind broke, allowing memories to burst through.  
  
There are two schools of thought on how to cure amnesiacs: one way, is to reintroduce them to their lives gradually, settle them into it delicately. The other way is to give them a physical or psychological jolt, hoping that the impact will force memories to the surface. In Ryu's case, he received both a physical and psychological jolt.  
  
Ryu was not the only one to receive a jolt, however, as a block away Jasmine's eyes widened and she screamed in pain and agony. She collapsed, shivering, into the arms of a shocked Gaist and she kept mumbling over and over.  
  
"He was promised to me... He was to be mine... my precious... my Ryu." She said with delusional fervour.  
  
With some difficulty, Ryu and Katt were able to get up, but they never once broke their tender embrace. She was crying tears of joy and he was chocked with emotion and couldn't say a word.  
  
"Katt, I..." He finally managed to speak.  
  
"Baka (stupid). Just shut up and hold me." She said through joyful sobbing.  
  
And there they stood holding each other in a tender embrace. And there wasn't a dry eye in the market place at the tearful reunion. However, this moment of bliss would not last long.  
  
"BOSS!" Sten yelled rushing up to them, hugging them both.  
  
"Uh... do you mind? This was a tender moment." Katt glared at him.  
  
Of course, hearing the rest of the commotion the rest of the group rushed out and upon seeing their lost friend and leader, they ran to express their elation. It ended up being a giant group hug, with Ryu in the middle.  
  
"Uh... guys? I... appreciate the... sentiment... but I can't breath!" Ryu said.  
  
After they had their moment they gave him some room to breath. Katt still clung to him, but he didn't seem to mind too much. The reunited group went to find some seats around which they could all speak and they told their collective stories, though there were some details that Ryu omitted, so as not to unduly upset Katt. Gaist came looking for Ryu, Jasmine shivering in his arms. Looking at Ryu and his group he smiled.  
  
"I see you've found people who know you." Gaist said.  
  
"This is my wife, Katt." Ryu introduced.  
  
"She could be like your human double or something!" Bow said to Katt, referring to her uncanny resemblance to Jasmine.  
  
She said nothing for she was looking at Ryu. Ryu looked at Jasmine; once he would have said that his feelings for Jasmine were the same as his feelings for Katt, but now, looking at the small shivering human, he felt nothing but sorrow for her current condition. Ryu and Katt looked each other in the eyes and any she may have had about his fidelity were dispelled in that instant.  
  
"What's wrong with her?" Ryu asked.  
  
"I don't know. It's like some enchantment bound her mind and was broken in the most brutal fashion. Don't worry, she'll be fine, but we'll be long gone by the time that happens." Gaist said sadly.  
  
Gaist was lying through his teeth; Jasmine would never recover. The force through which whatever had gripped her mind had been repealed had damaged her mind to such a point as to be permanent. But Gaist didn't want Ryu to worry; there was nothing either of them could do about the state of affairs.  
  
Unknown to all of them, a heavily cloaked figure lurched its way into the city and it was headed for the teleporter.  
  
Author's Notes: The End is near.  
  
Music for this chapter: 'Dyluck Come Home' from the OCRemix site. 


	18. Heroic Souls

Chapter 18:Heroic Souls  
  
The elder Teepo watched the new stranger as it lurched into his city. This past week had been one wrought with chaos and disorder with all these people travelling through his city. He had enough trouble with his fool of a son courting an outsider. He could not do anything about the people from the Urkan city, due to the peace accord that was being held with the Goddess and he had already expressed his ire to the apparent leader of the last group that came here, the man called Wanderer. This newcomer would not be exempt from his ire. He walked up to the filthy robed creature and the elder could smell death and decay in the air, the pungent scent angered him even further; once this vagrant was gone, order could be returned and he could order all the outsiders to leave, including that wench that Draigan was insistent on marrying. He stood before the ragman, an imperious look in his eyes, his gaze fixed upon this intruder.  
  
"What business do you have in my city?" The elder demanded.  
  
From within the darkened hood the figure looked at the elder and a mocking smile played upon the foul thing's lips.  
  
"The key... my quandary is the Goddess Key, the Sky Key. Where is it?" the cloaked one rasped.  
  
"We have no such thing here, now leave!" The elder glared.  
  
The figures smile widened and the figure shook, laughter emitting from his throat. Moving as fast as lightning, the cloaked one lashed out, his claw- like fingers piercing cloth and flesh, sliding through the spaces between the elder's ribcage, grasping at the elder's heart. The elder cried out in pain, but the figure would not release him. The noise gained the attention of everyone in the square and a chill ran down the spines of Ryu and his companions and they wondered where Bleu and Wanderer were.  
  
"You do not appear to know who you are dealing with; allow me to enlighten you: my name is Shax, formerly Myria's general, currently the hand of the mighty lord Evans. If you tell me where the Sky Key is I'll make sure your death is quick and painless; refuse, and I'll make sure you linger for days, begging for release." Shax said, his fingers digging into the elder's heart even further  
  
"Father!" Draigan cried out, charging towards Shax.  
  
With his free hand, Shax blocked Draigan's fist and knocked the youth back laughing the whole time.  
  
"Do you mind, boy? Your father and I are having a heart to heart conversation." Shax laughed madly, squeezing the elder's aforementioned organ.  
  
Elder Teepo gave a choking noise as blood spurted from the wounds where Shax's fingers pierced his flesh. The elder slumped forward and was still; he was dead, his heart crushed.  
  
"Oops." Shax smirked as he pulled his hand from the elder's corpse. "Looks like his heart gave out."  
  
The body fell to its knees and fell forward. Draigan stared at it in horror; he may not have gotten along with his father, but that didn't mean he didn't care about him. Glowering in fury, Draigan charged Shax, trying to strike the fiend down. Shax easily dodged Draigan's punches, however, one such failed strike did nock back Shax's hood, revealing his face for all to see. The head of this apparent monster was human, but was obviously quite deceased. His head was shaved; the only hair was the remnants of a braded ponytail at the base of his skull and tufts of a goatee on his chin. The flesh was emaciated, pealing in certain places, revealing the bone of his cranium. His eyes appeared to be on the verge of popping out of his head and his left eye was completely red: no iris or pupil visible. The only thing that appeared fresh on that deadhead was a vertical scar across the aforementioned left eye: it started at his forehead and stopped just below his cheekbone, the edges of the scar were burnt black and slightly peeled away; the interior of the scar was clotted and dried blood. That scar was bleeding and Ryu felt another shiver down his spine as though he knew here stood one who desired to end his life, his friends lives and any and all of his family line unto the tenth generation. Draigan stood, immobile with disgust and horror at the undead man's horrid visage. Shax took this lapse as an opportunity to grab Draigan by the throat and he effortlessly lifted the younger man off of his feet.  
  
"First rule of combat: never allow yourself to be distracted." Shax laughed. "Now you WILL tell me where the Sky Key is or I'll kill everyone in this wretched city and force you to watch, and when you are the only one left... I'll kill you torturously, slowAUUUUUHHHHGGGG."  
  
Yua was not about to simply stand by and watch her beloved be killed. She had snuck quickly behind Shax and stabbed him in the back. Shax dropped Draigan and spun on his heels, striking Yua with a backhanded punch. Yua went crashing to the ground, Ryu rushed to her, his sword unsheathed. He helped her up, but she shook him off and wiped blood away from her mouth; she was totally focused on Shax.  
  
For his own part, Shax was struggling, trying to remove the dagger from his back; it was buried to the hilt and thus very difficult for him to remove. He didn't feel any pain, pain being something that held no more meaning for the undead general. With a sickening 'pop', he popped one of his arms out of its sockets so that it could reach the weapon that protruded from his back. He slowly pulled it out and the wound did not bleed red blood, but a black slime oozed from the hole where the dagger once was. Shax's arm popped back into its proper place once more and he examined the dagger, the blade of which was covered in the black slime that his wound excreted. With a single movement, without even looking, he hurled the dagger at Yua and the weapon struck its target, lodging itself in her shoulder. The force of the impact knocked her back into Ryu. She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth as she tried to remove the dagger from her shoulder. She felt dizzy, faint and almost feverish. Ryu gently laid her down on the ground and picked up his sword, his face was twisted in an expression of rage. With no hesitation or regard for his own life, he charged Shax. A black bile excreted from the palm of his right hand, it solidified and grew into a midnight-black sword and he brought the blade up, just in time to block Ryu's sword stroke. Ryu did not stop his assault, as he struck again with a vertical down-stroke, then side-slash, diagonal upwards slash and diagonal downwards slash, all executed with nigh inhuman speed. However, Shax parried and blocked all of Ryu's attacks effortlessly.  
  
Katt dragged Bow to help Yua and Nina sent Rand and Jean to evacuate the people and Sten to find Bleu and the Wanderer. Katt, Nina and Bow knew this was no ordinary opponent; Katt and Bow knew because their heightened sense of smell picked up the scent of death and decay off Shax, but for Nina, a highly trained and skilled magi, she could feel Shax's violent, malevolent and dominating will; it felt, to her, as though she were naked and a cold, black, fell wind raked across her bare flesh, chilling to the very bone.  
  
Ryu and Shax faced each other from across crossed swords, their faces so close Ryu could smell each and every distinct foul scent of decay on Shax. Shax examined Ryu with his good eye and glared with what appeared to be virtual recognition.  
  
"Don't I know you from somewhere?" He asked.  
  
"Die, you bastard!" Was Ryu's reply.  
  
"Dragon... Boy..." Shax said, his eyes widening in sudden realization.  
  
With a shove on his blade, Shax pushed Ryu away. Shax then attacked with a single, rising, vertical slash. The concussive force of the strike blasted through Ryu's defences, knocking him off his feet, his sword falling to his side.  
  
"Found you, I finally found you after so long oh so very, very long... fuhuhehehehahAHAHAHAHAHA!" Shax laughed.  
  
He grasped his tattered robe and ripped it off. Underneath he wore ancient vest-plate armour, the edge of which was just below his sternum. At the edges of the metal were the threadbare remnants of cloth and chain so his mid-drift was bare. He wore black pants with thigh guards and old metal greaves. His armour was black, so it was difficult to see the rust on the metal. His body appeared skeletal, just skin and bones and even the skin had holes in it. He threw back his head and howled. As though answering to his call a black mist rolled in. One could still see, but the miasma was so potent the sun and sky were obscured.  
  
The black masses that were the floating garden seemed to halt in their flight and the earth trembled. A decayed hand burst forth from the earth and a zombie dug itself out of the ground. Many more zombies and Creon as well followed and from the gates growls and clicking noises could be heard as hell hounds and skeleton warriors entered through the front gates. Many of these fresh zombies were once members of the Urkan caravans, captured and turned undead. The inhabitants of the city panicked and tried to flee, many were cut down by zombie claws, hounds fangs or skeletons swords.  
  
"They groaned, they stirred, they all uprose, nor spake, nor moved their eyes; it had been strange, even in a dream, to have seen those dead men rise." Bleu said as she slithered behind Rand.  
  
"Very nice, but do you honestly think this is the time to quip?" Rand asked, preparing to fight.  
  
Shax looked around at his undead cohorts, who, once they had risen from the cold earth, made no movements, aggressive or otherwise, waiting upon the whim of their master Shax.  
  
"Kill them... ALL of them." Shax commanded.  
  
The ghouls, hounds, Creon and skeletons charged forward as t quickly as though they were still among the living, but Rand, Katt, Nina, Bow, Sten, Jean and Bleu fought back reacting to the threat as they had to any other enemy they had ever faced. They fought, not so much to defend themselves, but to protect the citizens and to secure a route of escape for the innocent bystanders. A claw of flame descended upon the enemy, cast by Bleu, incinerating the enemy that were in its path. Nina summoned a chilling blizzard and an ice wolf, followed by her pups, charged through the enemy ranks freezing them solid. The frozen statues cracked and burst, the differing temperatures between the statues and the air around them sealing their fate. Sten cast flame and a pyramid of fire consumed his opponents, his daggers being useless against zombies. Jean used the edge of his sturdy rapier to slice through the fragile flesh of the necks of his zombie opponents and they fell without a head to direct their movements. Against skeletons, however, he used his considerable girth to crush their bones, as even without their heads they would continue to move. Rand smashed his opponents with his bandaged fists, he had yet to have them fully healed because he had not thought it necessary at the time; a mistake he regretted as his knuckles began to bleed again as zombie guts and brains splattered on his fists. He was doing his best to herd as many people out of the city as he could. Bow muttered under his breath as he shot another zombie in the head, his crossbow bolts were proving inefficient against these foes.  
  
"Zombies..." He muttered, frustrated. "Why did it have to be Zombies? I HATE zombies."  
  
Gaist had materialized his Beast Spear and now fought to protect Jasmine; he could neither advance nor retreat, this fight would be all or nothing for him. Ryu had recovered his sword and was swarmed by zombies; he was trying to fight his way past them to get to Shax. He was not making very much progress, as for every zombie he cut down it seemed two took its place. Katt was doing her best to fight off the hoards of undead, trying to get to Ryu, but with only her staff, she was having a hard time; she knew she would soon need to use her last resort, she only hoped that she would not be so exhausted afterwards that she would die at the hands of the undead hoards.  
  
'One man threatens your lives, Ryu's life in particular.' The Wanderer had told Nina and she could now see why. She was casting spell after spell and it was beginning to take its toll. She could replenish her magical essence with her will, but even that was beginning to wear thin. She knew they were loosing, slowly, but they were loosing.  
  
The square was now devoid of citizens, of innocent bystanders, but it would take a miracle or a sudden burst of great power to extricate them from this battle. Katt gritted her teeth and gathered her strength.  
  
"Lords of thunder and lighting, bring down your hammer on the vile ones. BOLT X." Katt incanted.  
  
One bolt of lightning descended, then another, a third and a fourth and then a stream of electricity descended from the heavens, carving a path through the undead from Katt to Ryu. Katt swooned, stumbled, but was able to support herself with her staff. Blood drizzled from her nose and mouth; it had been an incredible gamble, with her weak magical essence casting such a powerful spell could have killed her outright. Gathering her wits, her courage and her remaining strength she ran to Ryu and took up a combat position standing with her back to his.  
  
"You sure you can do this?" Ryu smiled at her.  
  
"These pus buckets can't keep me down." She smiled fiercely, if wearily.  
  
They brought their weapons up; they were tired and things seemed hopeless, but they were determined to go down fighting.  
  
A loud roar sounded and all save the undead turned in search of the source. A pure white mist rolled in, neutralizing the dark miasma. Skeletons broke apart, collapsing, sent to their eternal rest. The older zombies fell to the ground, those more recently deceased held their ground, but ceased their attacks. From the blackness and stench of the remaining miasma emerged a shimmering figure, surrounded by what looked like a golden dragon silhouette. Only the splattered armour and ichor-stained sword hinted at the unfathomable evil the Wanderer had just laid to waste. Shax looked from the Wanderer to Ryu and frowned. Ryu cut the zombies before him to ribbons and charged Shax, who blocked his attack and pushed Ryu away.  
  
"You're not... TWO dragons? Grrrrr. I see now, you are neither of you are him. Heheheh. But you are LIKE him." Shax said.  
  
The Wanderer calmly approached him, his sword drawn. Shax sidled back a bit, a malevolent smile on his decaying lips.  
  
"Huzzah! Huzzah! O, fighting men! Your battle can't be won, but still you've proven sport beyond most's ken, endeavouring your triumph of the will. But this futile labour you must now sever, against me, though, yes, I'm known the fiend and afford this hellion's duty a measure; for mine's a charge of import most extreme." Shax sang out.  
  
"Will you shut the hell up already?" Ryu asked.  
  
"Your words, they evoke laughter's tonic. I trust the husk was being ironic?" Shax laughed, madness in his eyes.  
  
The Wanderer moved to attack Shax, but the fiend jumped back. He raised his hand, palm towards the Wanderer and an 'X' shaped scar appeared on Shax's palm. The flesh peeled away from the scar, revealing a void behind it.  
  
"BURN!" Shax yelled as a gout of flame streamed forth from his palm.  
  
The Wanderer through up his left arm as though to defend himself and the flame engulfed him. Ryu hacked away at another zombie and stopped gaping in horror as he saw the Wanderer consumed in flame, or so it appeared to him. The flames dissipated and the Wanderer appeared unharmed, not even singed. A shield was now on his left arm, where only a forearm bracer was before. The skin of the shield suddenly began to shrink and retracted into the ruby eye at the centre of the shield revealing the thin spines that had supported the skin of the shield and these too retracted into the ruby eye that was a part of the draconic design on the forearm bracers that the Wanderer wore.  
  
Holding his sword at the ready, he motioned for Shax to come at him, a confident smile playing at his lips. Shax's face contorted in anger and the skin of his face broke and bled in some areas. Shax, lost in his anger and hatred, rushed the Wanderer and their blades clashed. It was like a clash of the titans, the earth seemed to tremble, the very air seemed to scream as the blades cut through it and sparks flew when their swords connected. Blow after blow, neither swordsman relented, until the force of one strike of one sword on the other produced a concussive force repelling the two combatants. The opposing dichotomy of the swords as well as of their very beings could have been said to repel each other rather than their sword blows. Shax raised his sword and screamed a bestial cry and he charged the Wanderer again, determined to kill him in a single sword stroke. The Wanderer closed his eyes and charged Shax, moving so quickly he was almost a blur. Shax's eyes widened and his mouth gaped as the Wanderer's Dragon Sword pierced his armour, flesh and bone, cutting into his black heart.  
  
"Snake eyes, you lose." The Wanderer said opening his eyes, which now had a serpentine appearance.  
  
With what appeared to be little effort, the Wanderer lifted Shax, who was still impaled upon the Dragon Sword. Grasping the handle of the sword with both hands, he heaved Shax, who slid easily off the blade, and into the wall of a house. There was a sickening crack as his neck bent to an impossible angle. The newly created corpse lay still. Bleu and Bow looked up from Yua, who was unconscious and pale. Sten, Jean and Gaist were now routing the undead. Draigan was at Yua's side, holding her hand; he was deeply concerned. It appeared that the fight was over and Nina and Rand approached Shax's corpse, if only to make sure he was truly dead and going to remain that way.  
  
Suddenly the corpse's eyes widened and the body rose, as though on some puppeteer's strings. Nina and Rand froze, shocked by this sudden movement. The deceased man floated above their heads and hovered to rest above the steps to the teleporter building.  
  
"The demon god, DeathEvan, I presume?" The Wanderer inquired.  
  
"Mon dieu... But we defeated him n'est ce pas?" Jean asked.  
  
"Yeah... But he did say he'd be back." Ryu said calmly.  
  
"I was kinda hoping that was just trite villain dialogue." Sten muttered.  
  
MORTAL FOOLS... DO YOU AGAIN DEFY THE RIGHTFUL RULER OF THIS PLANE? DeathEvan' voice uttered not from the corpse's mouth, but from everywhere at once; it sounded like booming thunder with the chill of the grave.  
  
"What ruler would send demons to destroy a kingdom and try to bring its people to utter ruin?" The Wanderer asked with great contempt.  
  
"What?" Nina whispered; she had the feeling she knew what the Wanderer was talking about.  
  
I BELIEVE YOU ARE REFERING TO THAT FALLEN KINGDOM OF WINLAN. THEY WERE WEAK, THE ROYAL LINE BECAME TAINTED. I SOUGHT TO REMOVE THAT TAINT. DeathEvan explained.  
  
"That is the reason you poisoned my wife? Why you had demons destroy the city? Why your agent started that nonsense about a black winged curse? Why you have persecuted my family for what seems forever?" The Wanderer said in a tone of absolute calm.  
  
THEIR BLOODLINE WOULD BE DILUTED... IT WAS DILUTED WITH A MIXEDBLOOD RULER. LOOK UPON THAT FALLEN CREATURE THERE; HER MIXED BLOOD IS OBVIOUS, SHE CANNOT FLY AND CAN NO LONGER CHANGE INTO THE GREAT BIRD. CAN YOU HONESTLY SAY ATTEMPTING TO CLEANSE SUCH AN IMPURITY WAS WRONG? DeathEvan said pointing at Nina.  
  
For her own part, Nina was in shock; everything led back to DeathEvan. He destroyed Winlan, which started the black wing curse, which had made her an outcast; an exile from her home and ultimately it was because of this that Mina became the great bird. She didn't have much magical energy left before, but now, she found a hidden reserve of strength, which stemmed from her emotions, her rage in particular. Muttering arcane words, making barely visible gestures, she cast her spell. The hand of the corpse that was DeathEvan puppet rebounded off of a mystic shield, a circle of runes surrounded him.  
  
WHAT IS THIS? He asked, amused.  
  
"You beast, you're a defiler... you're the source of all my pain." She said through tears of sorrow and anger. "I'm going to make sure you suffer for what you have done. No one gave you the right to treat people this way."  
  
'KILLING' ME ONCE WAS INSUFFICIENT FOR MY PERCIEVED CRIMES? He smirked.  
  
"Dying a thousand times wouldn't be enough to even begin to atone for all the lives you've destroyed... But it would be a start." Nina said.  
  
She began to incant, imitating how Bleu had moved when she had used the strongest spell.  
  
"I call upon HwoShin of Fire, I call upon ToShin of Earth, I call upon SheiShin of Water, I call upon FunShin of Air, Grant me strength. Thou of foul name and impure heart, False Apostle, hear now the judgment of heaven:  
  
LADON'S LAW"  
  
A beam of light descended from the heavens, consuming DeathEvan. The light was blinding, some turned away; within the light the silhouette of DeathEvan corpse puppet could be seen dissolving. The light cleared and nothing remained of their opponent but a small pile of ash. Nina fainted and fell backwards into Rand's arms.  
  
"She's okay, she just needs a bit of rest." Rand said.  
  
"Okay, the undead are on the run, or shamble as the case may be and the big bad boss is defeated, again I might add. So... why don't we celebrate, or at least look happier?" Sten asked.  
  
"Because it isn't over." The Wanderer stated.  
  
From the pile of ashes three glowing, golden keys emerged, floating in the air. Ashes and dirt began to swirl about the keys and the sky darkened. Shadows seemed to become tangible and the flowed towards the Keys. Draigan ran over to Yua, ignoring the keys and what was going on around them. Yua had turned pale and was trembling; the knife was not coming out and the poison bile that had laced the blade was doing its work painfully slowly.  
  
"The poison is killing her..." Bleu said.  
  
"Can't you do anything?" Draigan demanded.  
  
"Not until the knife's out." Bow replied.  
  
"THEN TAKE THE DAMN THING OUT!" Draigan yelled.  
  
"Don't you think we've tried?" Bleu said, glaring at him.  
  
"I'm sorry it's just that..." Draigan said.  
  
"Yeah, I know..." Bleu said looking over at Ryu. "Bow, has Yua ever changed into a dragon?"  
  
"Err... I don't know." Bow said confusedly.  
  
"This is important; think, has she ever changed into a dragon." Bleu demanded.  
  
"No, not to my knowledge."  
  
"Good then... this may work." She said placing her hands above the dagger.  
  
Bleu mumbled incantations and electricity danced along her fingers, down through the dagger and into Yua's body. She writhed and screamed as electricity ran through her body, her eyes flew open and her body seemed to glow with a dark power and then it stopped and she lay still, her eyes closed.  
  
"Is she...?" Draigan began, afraid to finish the thought.  
  
"Its up to her now. All we can do is wait and hope." Bleu replied.  
  
Meanwhile DeathEvan' new form was finished: the dust and earth created bones and the darkness created transparent flesh. It was the mockery of a living dragon; a skeleton with solid, transparent shadows for flesh, glowing crimson eyes were in the otherwise empty sockets.  
  
YOU WILL FIND THAT THIS BODY IS NOT SO EASILY DISPOSABLE AS MY HUMAN HOST WAS. DeathEvan laughed.  
  
The Wanderer said nothing as he sheathed his sword. At first Ryu thought that perhaps the Wanderer was giving up but then he felt a tremendous power emanating from the older man. A white light emanated from him and he seemed to vanish from view. A great roar was heard and when the light cleared the dragon, Agni, stood where the Wanderer once did. The lower half of its body was a quadruped with what looked like a scorpion tail; the upper half of his body was humanoid until one looked at his head, draconic, covered with a mane with large spikes running down his back.  
  
EVEN WITH THAT POWER, YOU STILL CANNOT DEFEAT ME. I HAVE ACCESS TO THE POWERS OF THREE GODDESS KEYS AND WITH MY KNOWLEDGE I CAN USE THEM AS NO MORTAL EVER DREAMED. DeathEvan smiled, though with a general lack of flesh it was impossible to see how he could not smile.  
  
"He's right you know." The Dragon God, Ladon said to Ryu, speaking directly to his mind. "By themselves the keys can seal a goddess; in the hands of someone who knows how to use them... well lets just say that just three keys are capable of far more than that."  
  
'So what can I do then? He can't be unbeatable.' Ryu thought.  
  
Something in the way Ryu saw the world changed. He could see an orb within the Agni dragon and within that orb was a single point of light that would trace the symbol of infinity.  
  
"Agni is one half of infinity. The power you hold, Anfini, is the other half. Together my Avatar shall awaken." Ladon said.  
  
Ryu had no idea what to do, however, a stirring of power grew within him. It was the same feeling as the last time he used Anfini to resurrect his friends to fight DeathEvan. Again he unleashed that power and a stream of light traveled from him to Agni. Within that stream Ryu could see an orb that contained a small point of light, which traced infinity. The orb within the stream of light and that which was in Agni joined together; Agni roared and emitted a great golden light. The Agni dragon changed and becae a large version of Ryu's own Grand Dragon transformation save this Kaiser dragon had wings made of rainbow flame and its height was much greater than that of the Grand Dragon. Someone, someone with a deep baritone voice could be heard singing the Hymn of Dragons.  
  
Ye sai no Shei! Ya yu no Hwo, Ye sai no Fun! Ya yu no To Ya ni hikari  
  
Yo na Yami Ah sa ne yasare, no wo Ladon.  
  
The final line heralded the coming of Kaiser and for the first time since the beginning of time, the Hymn of Dragons was sung in its entirety. Bleu looked up from Yua and smiled.  
  
"So Kaiser finally makes an appearance? Welcome to the world, Father." She whispered.  
  
AM I SUPPOSED TO BE IMPRESSED? DeathEvan growled.  
  
The bone dragon opened its great maw and unleashed a stream of dark energy at Kaiser. Kaiser folded his wings of flame before him and DeathEvan's attack dissipated.  
  
"Is it my turn now?" Kaiser asked.  
  
YOU WONT ATTACK ME. YOU HAVE YET TO ADAPT YOURSELF TO THE POWER OF THIS BODY. WERE YOU TO ATTACK THERE'S NO TELLING WHAT KIND OF DAMAGE YOU WOULD DO AND YOU WONT RISK THAT... EH?  
  
What distracted DeathEvan was a beam of light coming down from the Sky Garden to the teleportation room. Many people rushed out of the building, trying to get out. DeathEvan cared not for the mere mortals but from where they came from. He looked above and had he flesh he would have smiled.  
  
I NO LONGER HAVE THE DESIRE TO FIGHT YOU. He laughed as his skeletal wings began to flap, carrying him off the ground.  
  
Kaiser followed, engaging DeathEvan in aerial combat. On the ground the fleeing people of the Sky Garden passed out the gates; however, one of them stayed to speak, if a little frantically, with Draigan.  
  
"My lord... There are still the children up there!" The woman said distraughtly.  
  
Draigan looked from the woman, to the Sky Garden and then to Yua.  
  
"Go, get out of the city, I'll deal with it." He said waving the woman off. He turned to Yua and bent down and kissed her. "I'll return, but I have to save them."  
  
Draigan ran off to the teleporter, not even looking back. As he had turned his back, however, Yua's eyes suddenly opened. The dagger slowly pulled itself out of her and the wound it had made closed. She sat up, but did not seem to see Bleu or Bow. The air around her seemed to shimmer and a loud, sluggish heartbeat could be heard.  
  
"I'll be damned... It worked. Stimulating a dragon transformation healed her." Bleu exclaimed.  
  
"You mean you weren't sure?" Bow asked dumbfounded.  
  
Ryu could not let the Wanderer fight alone and he began to change into Grand Dragon, the only dragon power he had left. Wings burst from his back, his muscles thickened and he grew into the dragon form. The Grand Dragon was not as large as Kaiser or the bone dragon that was DeathEvan but it was still powerful. Ryu flew up into the sky to confront DeathEvan. Yua had stood and slowly walked towards where Ryu had stood. She looked to the entrance of the teleporter, but Draigan had already left to the Sky Garden. The dragon power was beginning to take its toll on her; she felt like her entire body was being ripped apart. She had been resisting, fearing the pain she would experience and then she let go. The transformation was painful, her nerves felt like they were on fire and she could feel her entire body: every millimetre of skin, every hair, inside and out. In that moment she felt something else, beyond pain, beyond sensitivity she felt the beginnings of life forming within her; that tryst she had been having had produced something more.  
  
The transformation was over before she realized it and she had become an adult dragon. She spread her wings and flew up to Ryu. The Wanderer and DeathEvan were grappling in mortal combat: fang to fang and claw to claw. Ryu flew into a position where he could easily blast DeathEvan with a breath attack, without harming the Wanderer. He unleashed his attack and multiple white fireballs blasted DeathEvan's back. The great undead monster didn't even flinch. Staring at Ryu out of the corner of his unblinking eye, DeathEvan lashed out with his tail.  
  
INSIGNIFICANT GNAT. He said as he struck Ryu.  
  
Ryu went tumbling from the skies, but was caught by Yua. She struggled to remain aloft as Ryu shook off the hit.  
  
"Quit fooling around, we have to save Draigan." She said when he was able to fly again.  
  
"Uh... who's Draigan?" Ryu asked, completely uninformed of Yua's relationship.  
  
"My boyfriend, you twit! Now move!" She replied flying upwards to the Sky Garden.  
  
Ryu hesitated taken aback, but not for long as he flew upwards, following Yua. DeathEvan, still locked in combat with the Wanderer, watched as Yua and Ryu flew above him. He growled and blasted the Wanderer away from him and began to rise. Due to his sheer power and wing strength, he flew rapidly upwards past Yua and Ryu. Upon the Sky Garden, Draigan had found almost all of the children and was herding them towards the teleporter. DeathEvan landed before the teleporter entrance and was barring Draigan's way. The children screamed in fear of the sudden skeletal apparition. Yua and Ryu attacked DeathEvan, catching him off-guard, pushing him slightly off-balance, but not enough to make him move. DeathEvan retaliated with blasts of dark energy, but did not strike either nimble dragon. The Wanderer descended upon the undead abomination and attacked, preventing the bone dragon from attacking the children. Draigan herded them to the edge of the island where Ryu and Yua beckoned him. The children were far more scared of DeathEvan than they were of Yua and Ryu in their dragon forms and the way Draigan spoke reassured them. Ryu's Grand Dragon form was large enough to carry some children in his claws as well as on his back and Yua carried the rest on her back, between her wings.  
  
"Come on, we have to leave now." She pleaded with Draigan.  
  
"There's still one left. Don't worry about me. I'll catch up. Go now!" He implored.  
  
Yua and Ryu reluctantly left and Draigan scrambled off to find the remaining child. DeathEvan and the Wanderer were locked in mortal combat neither gaining the upper hand; they met each other blow for blow. The Wanderer had accomplished one thing however; he had managed to move DeathEvan away from the entrance to the teleporter, so Draigan would at least have a way to escape. The Wanderer was growing weary, while he had an immense power as Kaiser; he hadn't had the time to learn how to use it efficiently. DeathEvan was not faring any better, at least, for while he knew had to use the power of the Goddess Keys efficiently and effectively, he still had nowhere near the power of Kaiser. All it would take was one slip on either side to determine the outcome of combat and unfortunately, DeathEvan found a hole in the Wanderer's defence. Taking advantage of the moment, DeathEvan managed to strike within the Wanderer's guard, his phantom and bone claws piercing flesh, digging deep in the Wanderer's heart. The Wanderer roared, but then bit down with his fangs onto DeathEvan's neck. Fangs pierced phantasm flesh, but did not touch the bones, held back by phantasmal flesh.  
  
Draigan was running back to the teleportation room, a little girl in his arms. He had found her hiding under some bushes and was now trying to get to safety. Suddenly, DeathEvan pushed Kaiser back and the claws of the light dragon dug into the ground sending gravel and dirt flying back. Draigan tripped and the little girl flew out of his arms landing hard on the ground.  
  
Draigan got up and stopped; there was no sound, nothing was moving around him. He looked around and spotted an elderly man sitting on a broken column, clutching his chest. Blood was pouring over his fingers and he was breathing heavily. Draigan rushed over to him.  
  
"Sir we must leave here..."He began, but the Wanderer cut him off.  
  
"Its too late to save me... DeathEvan has a key that can control the flow of time. I'm currently using it to speak to you, but we don't have much time." The wanderer said.  
  
Draigan looked from the Wanderer back to the Kaiser dragon, still locked in combat with the bone dragon, DeathEvan.  
  
"How is that possible?" He asked.  
  
"How am I speaking to you as a human, when my dragon form is there? I don't know. How did I use the Time Key? The Kaiser is more than just a power, it's a connection to Ladon and he speaks to me through it. I was told how to use the Time Key and I was close enough to do so. That's all." The Wanderer flinched as blood spurted from his wound. "I haven't much time, so when time unfreezes, you must take the child and run to the teleporter. I'm going to unleash Kaiser's full power; the explosion will kill me, but it will also destroy DeathEvan and this garden."  
  
"Sir... you can't..." Draigan began to protest, but the Wanderer interrupted him.  
  
"I've known I was going to die for some time; I'm prepared." He smiled. "But you must take this, you must keep it safe from Myria and DeathEvan until the one who needs it comes for it. You'll know him when you see him... He will be of your blood."  
  
The Wanderer removed his hand from his chest taking the Infinity Gene out of his body, offering it to Draigan. Draigan was confused; how would he know, how could this one be of his blood for he had no children. However, he would not deny a dying man's last request and took the orb and placed it to his chest. The gem sank into him and, suddenly, things seemed to change in Draigan's perception. The Wanderer had vanished and time was beginning to return to normal; the two dragons began to struggle once more. Draigan ran and picked up the girl, taking a brief second to make sure she was all right. He ran for the teleporter and once inside was bathed in blue light.  
  
'Goodbye.' The Wanderer thought as he unleashed his full power.  
  
Gaist had finished off the remaining zombies with his Beast Spear; it had been all too easy. He hadn't even broken a sweat, that is, if he even could sweat with this body. He looked over at Jasmine who had been totally oblivious to the events occurring around her. He had witnessed the dragons and knew them to be the Brood that the priests spoke of. He had not expected to see any so soon. An explosion interrupted his musings. He looked up to see the sky lit up brighter than day. Through the clouds great chunks of rock were falling down upon them. The Sky Garden was breaking apart; fortunately most people had already left, but the rest would be killed. Gaist went quickly over to Jasmine and picked her up in his arms; she still seemed completely unaware as to what transpired around her. A dark shadow loomed above them and Gaist looked up; a large chunk of the Sky Garden was hurtling down on them. Gaist was not fast enough to get out of the way, nor strong enough, as of yet, to destroy it.  
  
'Is this it? Are we going to die here? Like this?' He asked himself.  
  
The rock exploded as Ryu blasted it away with the Grand Dragon's power. He and Yua had deposited their charges outside the city and were doing their best to save any others who remained. Yua was having a harder time because she was yet unused to the dragon form. Gaist looked on in awe at the Grand Dragon before him, the hovering Grand Dragon was a sight to behold.  
  
'This is the Brood? The World destroyers?' He asked himself and he felt doubt, however minute, in his purpose as a Guardian.  
  
Author's Notes: Longest chapter I ever wrote I think. I also think it's the best, but I already know my opinion, so I'm waiting for yours. This is not quite the end, there are things that have yet to be resolved. By the way in case you were wondering, I hat the dragon summonings of Breath of Fire 2, so in this story they are still transformations.  
  
Music for this chapter: 'DeathEvan' from Breath of Fire 2 soundtrack. 


	19. Soul's Farewell

Chapter 19: Soul's Farewell  
  
There wasn't much left after the SkyGarden had fallen upon the dragon city. Many had escaped, but some had not; they were buried beneath the debris, irretrievable. Homes were gone, families broken apart; the remnants of the Dark Dragon Clan in this land were now lost and homeless. Ryu and his friends had spent the remainder of the day attempting to help people as best they could, salvaging what they could of the people's belongings. It seemed a moot point though, as the people had nowhere to go. Night fell and they slept, though many stayed awake wondering what would happen to them now. Bow slept and dreamt of Silvia and of good food and ale, Nina slept and dreamt of being with her family once more, Ryu slept, for the first time in a long time, of exhaustion and he dreamt of nothing and he would be thankful for it upon the morrow, Katt slept, nestled in Ryu's arms and she dreamt of being at home of holding her son her arms, Jean slept and her dreamed of music, of poetry and of painting, describing with those artful tools the events that occurred in this land. Rand and Sten did not sleep; they had volunteered to stand guard and watch for monsters, tired though they were.  
  
"That's it then, I guess." Rand sighed.  
  
"What's it?" Sten asked.  
  
Sten was passing the time witling a piece of wood into a small sculpture; he was now working on the finer details with a small chisel.  
  
"We found Yua, she'll either come with us or not. I guess we're finished here, right?" Rand said.  
  
"I suppose, but what are they going to do? They lost their homes and they have nowhere to go. They seem very reluctant to go to that factory place, even though its pretty close." Sten mused.  
  
"They'll think of something, it isn't our responsibility to help them out... Though I wouldn't mind if we did." Rand replied.  
  
Rand and Sten were not the only ones awake that night, gazing at the stars. Draigan looked at the starry sky; Yua being asleep, perhaps he was attempting to use astrology to predict his people's future, but if that was the case, the stars were being very unresponsive. Gaist had remained to help the people for the Black Ship was not to leave until the following day. He walked up to Draigan and sat down beside him. Gaist had been thinking upon Jasmine's condition. The enchantment upon her had been broken on the secondary target that she had been linked to, that was what had damaged her. At the same time Ryu regained his memory. It was not a coincidence; they must have been magically linked and Ryu regaining his memory had broken it. The question was why would someone want to link them together like that? Who had anything to gain by keeping his memories hidden from him? Now Gaist wanted to distract himself from such thoughts and he hoped speaking with Draigan would do that.  
  
"Why are you here?" Draigan asked. It was a simple question with no malice or anger behind it.  
  
"Everybody needs to be somewhere and here seems to be a good place for me to be." Gaist replied.  
  
"That isn't what I meant. It is your purpose to hunt the Brood isn't it?"  
  
"True, but I have yet to be told what a Brood is and until someone clarifies that I won't attack anyone."  
  
"A technicality. You're letting us go on a technicality."  
  
"I won't tell if you won't." Gaist laughed. "But, have you given anythought as to what you'll do now?"  
  
"We have nowhere to go. The best solution is to move everyone into Kombinat, but they don't want that. They risked disease and death so they didn't have to go there. It doesn't seem as though we have a choice now."  
  
"What if I gave you another option?" Gaist asked.  
  
"Can you? Wouldn't you be punished for helping us?"  
  
"Meh... what they don't know won't hurt me. There's an abandoned city east of here across the mountain range. Under normal circumstances, it might take you a week or so to travel there." Gaist said, looking east.  
  
"How do you know its been abandoned?"  
  
"I used to live there... no one lives there now."  
  
"I'll think about it." Draigan said.  
  
They were not the only ones who were awake that night. Bleu slithered among the ruined city, searching. She came to a small clearing and found that which she had been looking for: the Wanderer's body. There he lay, eyes wide in death; his armour bore no holes so his wounds were not visible. She slithered up to his body and closed his eyes and he looked for all the world as though he were sleeping.  
  
"Good night, my sweet boy. May you find her swiftly." She said with a sad smile, her eyes brimming with tears.  
  
She raised her head as though a noise startled her. This was no noise, rather an encroaching presence. Blue moved to behind some debris from where she could observe the intruder.  
  
A light descended upon the clearing and the goddess Myria appeared. Her body was bathed in light, her wings spread and She looked every inch the divine goddess. She walked to the Wanderer's body, but made no gesture of respect and in fact glared at the body at her feet as though she would burn the body with but a glance. She knelt, not out of respect, and passed Her hand above the corpse, as though She were trying to scoop something away. When Her hand came away empty, She frowned and passed Her hand over the body once more and again She grew frustrated.  
  
"Where is it? Infinity was formed; I know it. It should have remained with its host even after the host died." She muttered to Herself.  
  
"He has a name you know, sister." Bleu said, coming out from behind the debris. "Or is your memory so selective that you don't remember the first mortal to have kicked your ass in a fight?"  
  
"Deis Bleu..." Myria said, utilising Her sister's full name. "Have you come to witness the destruction wrought by your precious monsters?"  
  
"This mess wasn't caused by the dragons, it was caused by your abomination of a son!" Bleu yelled.  
  
Myria did not appear to hear anything Bleu said, She continued to stare down at the Wanderer's body.  
  
"Where is Infinity? Such power should not be in the hands of these misguided children. You know where it is, don't you Deis?" She turned towards Bleu as She spoke.  
  
"And if I did, Myria Tyr?" Bleu said using Myria's full name as a show of hostility.  
  
"You must tell me where it is. To protect these lost children I must remove that which is dangerous to them. Infinity, now that it has been created, must be hidden away lest they destroy themselves with it."  
  
"Well, I don't know and if I did, I still wouldn't tell you." Bleu glared.  
  
Myria said nothing and again She waved her hand above the Wanderer's corpse. His armour, helmet, forearm bracers and sword removed themselves from his body and stood at Her side, as though possessed by some phantom.  
  
"These will be for my champion, a true champion, when the world will need someone to guide it. Chaos will engulf this world and I will ensure that peace and order will reign." Myria said before vanishing with the dragon equipment.  
  
"You arrogant, selfish, self-centred, vain... CHILD!" She screeched after Myria. "And to think, YOU are the elder daughter. What was Father thinking when he had you locked up in the Obelisk? The time you spent there before you were released, alone with no one but Evans and your own dark thoughts has driven you mad."  
  
She looked down on the corpse remaining and sighed. She raised her staff and incanted. The body rose off the ground, levitating, and hovered before her eyes.  
  
"Ahhh, my sweet boy. At least She didn't take you. I don't want to leave you on this foreign soil, but they wouldn't allow you to be buried along side her, now would they?" She smiled sadly.  
  
She took a role of cloth from her small pack and tossed it at the body. The cloth unrolled itself and began to spin about the body, mummifying it. Bleu slithered away, the mummified body hovering in tow.  
  
**********  
  
Upon the dawn, the remaining citizens gathered at the gates of their destroyed home. Ryu and his friends were at the forefront of the throng of people. Yua was concerned, she had woken up and Draigan had not been beside as he had when they had gone to sleep. She had asked Gaist about it before he had left, but he had muttered something about Draigan 'speaking when he was ready'. It hadn't made much sense to her and now he called this meeting.  
  
Katt wasn't overly concerned about this affair; she had been there when Bleu had brought back the Wanderer's body. She had been sick with grief for a small while, she was still holding back tears, even now, but as long as she was with Ryu, the pain wasn't so bad. Her mentor and foster father was in a better place now, Ryu had said to her. Nina was also heartsick at the knowledge of the Wanderer's death, but she could not say why. She now wore the feather amulet around her neck.  
  
Draigan stood before the crowd and motioned for silence. The crowd hushed and the silence seemed deafening.  
  
"My people, we have faced great ordeals in a short time." He began. "Many of our friends and family did not make it, but we still must be thankful that we, at least, are still alive to remember those fallen. We have our clan brother, a dragon of the light, to thank for our lives."  
  
Here he paused and the crowd gave silent thanks to the Wanderer's sacrifice.  
  
"This evening we will have a commemorative service to remember and honour the memories of all our fallen, but that is not why we are speaking here now. Many of you have asked where we shall go now that our homes are gone. I say we still have a home, our home is wherever our family is and our clan is. Houses of wood and stone can be replaced; these bonds of family, of friendship are what make us strong. If we cannot live here, than we shall go somewhere else. To the east, across the mountains there is a city, there is no one there now so we can make it a place for us... We leave upon the morrow, pack what you can, take only what you can carry. Our clan will live again!"  
  
The crowd cheered and hope was born anew. People felt confident, they now had a place to live and Draigan would lead them to it. The crowd dispersed and people went about the business of collecting what meagre possessions they had. Ryu and companions were going to go home using the teleporter; Bleu told them it would take them just outside of Windia, but only them; it would be a single one-way trip.  
  
Yua ran after Draigan, there was something in the way he spoke that she felt meant she was not going with him. She ran and found him in what was once the city square, where Ryu had found Katt and where the Elder Teepo had been killed. He stood, his back to her and he was gazing up towards the sky.  
  
"Hey, I've been worried about you, you weren't there this morning. Is something wrong?" She asked.  
  
"You're not coming with me." He said.  
  
"What?" She said, disbelieving.  
  
"You aren't coming with me, you're going home with your brother."  
  
"What are you saying... Of course I'm going with you." She pressed forward.  
  
He turned, his head was lowered and he had a pained expression on his face.  
  
"You're not coming." He repeated.  
  
"Is...is this a joke?" She demanded.  
  
She couldn't look at him. Looking at his face, full of pain and sorrow, her anger was dissolving, turning into desperation and sorrow. She turned her back to him and tried and failed to hold back tears.  
  
"Why can't I? How do you know I wont just follow you?" She said, her voice controlled and almost inaudibly shaky with emotion.  
  
He walked up to her and held her. She did not turn around and she bit her lip to keep from sobbing as her tears flowed. Draigan kissed the back of her neck and she felt the moisture of his own tears.  
  
"We aren't just going to find a new home..." He said, his voice choking with emotion. "We go to hide from the Goddess. She knows we have broken our part of the agreement and she will come for us. If She can't read our dragon powers, we'll be safe. You aren't the type to hide from anything."  
  
"Wh-what about coming here? I was running away from Ryu, from my father." She said, trying very hard not to let tears and sadness overcome her.  
  
"You may not see it, but you are not the same person you were then. You have changed in the short time I've known you." He said. "And besides..."  
  
His hand drifted down to her abdomen and rubbed it delicately, as though trying to feel the life that would soon be apparent there.  
  
"... You can't think of yourself alone anymore." He finished.  
  
"You know?" She asked, a little surprised. "I only found out a little while ago myself."  
  
"I... know things now. I don't know how I know, I just do." He said.  
  
His bond with Infinity, with Ladon had grown strong, but he only knew what the god would tell him. Too much information could be as bad as too little.  
  
"If I leave... You'll never know your children." She said; it was an almost desperate plee to stay with him.  
  
"I can already see them." He smiled. "In my mind, I can see them."  
  
Without words, she conceded. She would leave with Ryu and Draigan would go to this new city, leading his people. They would be so far apart, but close in spirit, in heart. At least, that's what they hoped.  
  
"I ask you one thing. Name one of them after my father... please." He said.  
  
The implication that she was bearing more than one child didn't even register with her. He was going to pull away but she stopped him.  
  
"Please... just... hold me now." She asked softly.  
  
**************  
  
That night, the Wanderer's body was burned upon a pyre. It was to honour all the fallen, but Ryu and his friends, Bleu in particular mourned the Wanderer's passing.  
  
"Of all the people I've known, he was my sweet boy... He went on his adventure, not to save the world, but to save his sister, Sarah. That kinship is something I've missed with my own family, it's why I loved him best." She had said.  
  
People cried, Katt sobbed as she saw his body burn beneath the stars, but she had said her farewells. People each muttered their own prayers for the fallen, but in the end everyone just said goodbye.  
  
At daybreak people began to leave, travelling east. Ryu and his friends made their way to the teleporter in the city. Ryu was surprised that Draigan had not come to say goodbye.  
  
"We already said our goodbyes." Yua told him.  
  
Ryu let the matter drop and said nothing. Sten looked positively green at the prospect of being teleported again. And in the blink of an eye, in a flash of light, they were gone.  
  
Once there was no one remaining in the city a single robed figure could found sorting through debris and detritus. About this robed figure's belt there was a ring of keys, each with a different design. Suddenly the figure stopped rummaging through the ruins and pulled an object from the rubble: it was a golden key with the symbol for 'Ten' (Sky) etched into the key's head.  
  
"Four down, two more to go." The figure began to laugh maniacally.  
  
Author's Notes: For those of you who have played Breath of Fire 3, Draigan does appear in that game, though he is technically an original character. I wonder if you can guess who it is?  
  
Music for this chapter: 'Epitaph of Alan and Cerl' from OC Remix web site. 


	20. Epilogue

Epilogue  
  
The Urkan people had settled in their new homes of Urkan Tapa and they were now witnessing the final Guardian Ceremony. Garr, in his new Guardian form, stood proudly, his spear raised.  
  
People of Urkan Tapa, by this spear I am commanded to protect the Goddess and Her followers from those who would harm the world. I swear I shall fight to protect you all, I will fight and defeat all enemies of the Goddess!" He shouted responding to the cries of joy of the people.  
  
At the base of the Angel Tower, where the ceremony was being held, Gaist watched thinking to himself. The tiniest of tiny doubts had already begun to form in his mind.  
  
"But who is the enemy, Garr? Do we really know who and what it is we are fighting?" He whispered to himself.  
  
Approximately nine months after Ryu, Katt and Yua had returned to their home of Gate, Yua gave birth to twin boys. Ganer had welcomed them all home nine months ago and, especially Yua for whom he shed many tears of joy at her return. He now stood proudly by his daughter as she held her newborn sons and was happy to be a grandfather once more. Doctor Kay was also sitting in the room, tired after what had seemed a difficult birthing, but she too smiled warmly at the newborns. Ryu and Katt were also in the room; Katt holding their sleeping son in her arms.  
  
"Any ideas for names?" She asked Yua.  
  
"I was going to name this one Ryu, after my brother." She said indicating the child with wisps of blue hair. "And I was going to name this one Teepo, as his father asked me." She said indicating the child with the sullen gaze and wisps of violet hair.  
  
Not all who were watching them were in that room. Ladon and his own daughter, Deis Bleu watched them from the heavens.  
  
"Does it have t be this way?" Bleu asked.  
  
"This is their will. The results forged by their actions, as I wanted it to be. Their hands, their hearts and their actions work the future, not by my will or yours and that's they way it was always meant to be." Ladon replied.  
  
"Still... Is there nothing we can do?" Bleu asked looking upon the ghostly image of those newborn children.  
  
"I have my avatar, but it is not his time yet. You should watch over these children."  
  
"Shall they be so important so soon?' She asked astonished.  
  
"No, they shan't be important for a while. However, they will one day." The god said.  
  
He waved his hand and the image wavered and changed. They were now looking at two young boys, one with Bleu hair and a topknot, the other with long violet hair and a sullen gaze. "Just them? The Woren boy, will he not have a place in history?"  
  
"He will do what no other Woren child has done in ages, he will unite his people under one tribe, one leader. No longer will the Worens be aimless, loners and drifters but a single people. There is another thing about this child though; his dragon blood will create a zooanthrope, a tiger with the dragon powers. This power will strengthen the tigers blood-line until there will come one who has it who aids the dragon once more."  
  
Ladon waved his hand again and the image of Ray, Ryu and Katt's son, wavered, replaced by that of an older, noble looking Woren male. A Woren adolescent who stood by the two boys replaced that image. Bleu looked at the image of those three and smiled slightly, the future was going to be an interesting place.  
  
Through the mists the Wanderer traveled as he had traveled for so many centuries. This time, however, he had no burden and was going to meet someone he had long missed. As he walked his shoulders grew straighter, his hair darkened to a blue colour and his face lost the lines of worry that had lined his face. He re-became a youth, a kind hearted young man wearing a white tunic, white shorts and a resplendent red cape. He walked towards an ivory white gate in the distance of the mist; at the foot of the three steps that led to the gate two people sat in conversation; one was a child of Winlan with blond hair and white wings with brown tips, the other was a maiden of the Light Dragon Clan with blue hair and a kind, beautiful face. They were both waiting for the Wanderer. The winged one stopped the speaking suddenly and looked up. She saw the Wanderer coming and her eyes filled with tears. She vaulted from her seated position and into his open arms. They said nothing; words were not needed between them, they never had been needed. The Wanderer's sister, the blue haired woman named Sarah, smiled at her brother's return and the great ivory gates opened, welcoming the three into the holy relm.  
  
~FIN~  
  
Author's Comments: I would like to thank all my readers for taking the time to read and review my story, especially Topaz Rosales who introduced me to Fanfiction.net. Many of you, if not all of you are probably wondering who was Shax and what did he have against Ryu or what DeathEvan plans to do with the Goddess Keys. Well, I say, keep your eyes out for my next 2 stories in which the answers to those questions shall be revealed: War of Souls and Rebirth of Souls. 


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